This is Why I Love You
by PhantomVunachellie
Summary: Collection of one shots. Just short stories of Steve and Tony's lives together and whatnot. Requests are gladly taken!
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **_The First Kiss_

**Inspiration: **_It was two in the morning…I was tired and thought what the hell? _

Steve had walked down to Tony's lab late at night. It was around two in the morning on a Saturday night and the solider had woken up from a nightmare. They haunted him a lot – what else was new? Occasionally he would go find Tony sitting down in his lab working and would just sit there and sketch while the genius worked. Neither of them would talk, they just silently worked enjoying each others company. So that's where he went today with his sketch book and pencil in hand.

He punched the code into the door and it opened allowing him access. He looked around the lab and heard a crash over in the corner, but there was no sight of anyone. Worried, he set his things down and walked over in the direction where the crash was.

When he rounded the corner, he saw a very strange sight. Tony was sitting on the floor with a bottle of whisky in his hands – it was almost empty – and his head was buried in his free hand. There was shattered glass around him and a clear liquid on the floor. Steve noticed a bottle cap and realized Tony must have smashed a bottle of vodka or something.

"Tony, what happened?" Steve asked crouching down and startling the billionaire half to death. He lifted the bottle over his head about to strike Steve with it, but stopped when he realized who it was.

"Steve, I was waiting for you to come and join me." He slurred dropping the bottle on the floor. It shattered as well as Tony placed a hand on Steve's shoulder. "You always come down here." He hiccupped. "You always keep me company." Steve looked into Tony's eyes. The man was obviously beyond drunk.

"Tony, I think it's time you went to bed." Steve said hoisting the genius to his feet.

"No." He grumbled as he stumbled away from Steve. "I have to…do a thing."

"And what would that be?" Steve crossed his arms as Tony waved a floppy hand at him.

"It's a secret, now go." He slurred stumbling over to his work bench. "Steve can't know." The soldier snorted. Tony was absolutely _wasted._

"Common, Tony, it's time for bed." Steve walked over and put an arm around the genius who weakly fought against him. Of course Steve wasn't exactly intimidated since he was a super soldier and Tony was, well, drunk. No one was a good fighter when they were drunk. Least of all Tony.

"I don't want to." He whined as Steve led him up the stairs. "I have to finish the thing…"

"You can finish it tomorrow, Tony." Steve assured him as they headed down the hallway towards Tony's room.

"I need to finish it tonight…it's important."

"What is it?" Steve asked leading Tony into his room. The genius eyes Steve and shook his head wildly.

"You can't know, _Steve._" He said remembering who he was talking to. "It's a secret. Shh…" He pressed a finger to his lips and giggled as he lay down on his bed. Steve rolled his eyes and bent down to take off Tony's shoes. Another giggle escaped Tony along with a hiccup. "I like that position, Cap." He said noting how Steve was in front of him on his knees.

"Quiet, Tony." Steve ordered as he unbuttoned Tony's grease stained shirt. The billionaire smirked,

"Captain America wants to get down and dirty with me." He chuckled throwing his arms around Steve's neck and pulling him down so their cheeks were touching.

"Tony, cut it out. You need sleep." Steve said pulling away from the drunken mans clutches and tossing his shirt aside.

"No I don't." He pouted turning away from Steve. "Maybe I _won't_ give you your surprise." He threatened.

"I don't care. You won't even tell me what it is."

"Steve, Steve, Steve," Tony sat upright causing the soldier to stumble backwards a bit on the bed. He took a hold of Steve's shoulder and looked him in the eye. "You see, the point of a surprise is that you aren't supposed to know what it is. That's why I'm not telling you. So shush." Steve sighed and pushed Tony back down onto the pillows.

"Tony, go to sleep." He ordered pulling the covers over the whining genius.

"I don't want to!" He cried kicking his legs like a little kid.

"Stop that!" Steve said pushing Tony's legs down. "I don't care if you don't want to sleep, you're going to. You're going to sleep off your drunken state and then you can irritate all of us with your hangover tomorrow." Tony's eyes went wide.

"All of us?" He questioned. "You're all here?" Steve slapped his forehead.

"We live here, Tony." Steve said through clenched teeth. "The only one who doesn't is Thor, but he's here too since he's visiting Jane." Tony gasped.

"We must have another mission then if you're all here! Quick, Steve, we have to suit up."

"No!" Steve said pushing Tony – who tried to get up – back down on the bed. "We don't have another mission, we _live _here Tony. Do you understand?" This was the worst Steve had ever seen Tony drunk. It was irritating, but at the same time, he still couldn't help but feel this strange attraction towards the genius. It had been there for weeks, but most of the time he just disregarded it.

"Oh, that's right!" Tony said wagging a finger as he finally remembered. "We're all one big happy family."

"Yeah, sure we are." Steve said rolling his eyes as Tony smiled up at him.

"You can be my husband." He said pressing a finger to Steve's chest. Steve blushed and was thankful that the lights were off. The last thing he needed was for a drunken Tony to see him blush. That would be hell.

"Okay, Stark, I'll be your husband, but you need to go to sleep." Steve said rolling his eyes as Tony clapped giddily.

"Captain America wants to be my husband." He sang pulling Steve back down to him and their cheeks pressed together once again like last time. Steve sighed.

"Tony, you really need to go to bed." Steve was getting a bit agitated, but he knew he was the only one who could put up with Tony like this.

"Okay, okay, but first, can I tell you a secret?" Steve sighed again but nodded.

"Sure, Tony, tell me a secret."

"You have to get closer and promise that you'll tell absolutely no one." He said after he hiccupped.

"I'm as close as I can get, Tony, just tell me."

"You have to promise first or I can't tell you!" The genius whined.

"Okay, I promise." Steve rolled his eyes again. Tony giggled and hiccupped again before he cupped his hands and whispered into Steve's ear,

"I have the biggest, and I mean the _biggest_," He sat up and Steve just shook his head as the genius rambled. This would take a while. "Like, so big, I don't even know how I can contain it. That's how big it is."

"What is so big?" Steve asked just wanting Tony to sleep.

"I'm getting there!" The genius said drunk and agitated. "As I was saying, I have the biggest crush on someone and they can not know, so don't tell them."

"Why can't they know?" Steve crossed his arms.

"They wouldn't like it. No." He shook his head wildly again. "They'd get mad at me and never talk to me again. I wouldn't like that. Not at all."

"Why not?"

"Because!" He threw a hand onto Steve's shoulder. "I think…" He hiccupped again. "I think I love them." He nodded. "I love them."

"Who are they? Who do you love?" Suddenly Steve was intrigued. Tony loved someone? Or was it just the alcohol talking?

"Don't tell them!"

"I won't." Tony smiled and covered his lips.

"I'm in love with…" He giggled and covered his mouth again. "Captain America!" He giggled again and fell backwards. Steve sat wide eyed watching the genius giggle on the bed. "I love Steve Rogers." He slurred. "I…I love him…I love Steve _so _much."

"Okay, you love him." Steve nodded still in shock. Somehow though, he didn't mind it. In fact, he found himself smiling a bit. So Tony did like him after all. He _loved_ him. Or so this drunken side of Tony claimed.

"You can not tell him!" Tony sat upright and narrowed his eyes at the soldier. "Especially don't tell Clint because he'll tell Steve and ruin everything." Steve snorted.

"I won't, Tony. Now will you go to bed already? You told me your secret, now it's time to sleep. Go on, lay down." The genius whined but complied to the soldiers orders.

"Wait a minute!" Tony said sitting up and looking at Steve's retreating back. A loud groan escaped Steve as he turned around and wanted nothing more than to go to bed and have Tony do the same. It was like dealing with a child. "Don't leave me alone!"

"Why not, Tony? Just go to bed!" The solider nearly shouted. There was a pleading look behind Tony's drunken eyes.

"I don't like being alone. Not at night." Steve frowned. "I have nightmares." A sympathetic look crossed Steve's face and he walked back over muttering, _what the hell?_ Under his breath.

"Alright, I'll stay with you tonight." He climbed under the covers and heard an excited gasp escape Tony.

"It'll be like a sleepover!" He said scooting over to Steve and wrapping his arms around the solider tightly.

"Yes, it'll be like a sleepover. Except it's time to sleep or I have to go." Tony nodded in his drunken understanding.

"I don't want you to go. Okay, okay, we'll go to bed." _Thank god…_Steve thought as Tony quickly passed out with his arms still around him. Steve fell asleep not to long after with one thought on his mind. _Tony Stark loves me? _

OOO

The morning came quickly, and when Tony woke up he groaned feeling the hang over hit him. It certainly was a bitch and he didn't recollect anything from the night before. All he knew was he was in bed and there was someone next to him. He looked up and saw Steve below him still asleep. A soft gasp escaped the genius and he gazed down at the man below him. He made sure they were still dressed and sighed in relief. The last thing he wanted to do was sleep with Steve and _not remember it!_

Then it hit him…why was Steve in his bed? How did they even get there? This was all so strange, but he was elated at the fact that Steve was in his bed with an arm wrapped around his waist. The proximity made him blush and he tried not to smile as the soldier slowly opened his eyes and met Tony's.

"Oh, he's awake." The soldier said sounding a bit happier than normal. "Good morning."

"Morning." Tony said rubbing his forehead. "What are you doing here, Steve?" He questioned turning to look at the blonde who was now next to him.

"You wanted me to stay with you last night after I brought you back here. You're very annoying when you're drunk." The genius laughed knowing it was true. He got that comment a lot.

"You brought me up here?"

"Yes, and it was a battle to get you to sleep." The genius chuckled.

"I don't remember a thing."

"I didn't expect you to." The soldier smiled as he stretched. "Although you did say some interesting things last night and spill some interesting secrets." Nervously, Tony eyed him.

"Like what?" He asked slowly. Steve smirked,

"About how you have the _biggest_, and I mean _biggest _crush on some one." He mocked Tony's tone from that night and laughed. Tony's eyes narrowed despite his nervousness. "Like, so big, you don't even know how you can contain it. That's how big it is." Another laugh escaped the soldier and he placed a hand onto Tony's shoulder. "You're in love with…Captain America. You love Steve Rogers. You…you love him…you love Steve _so_ much." He ended his mocking tone with a loud laugh and Tony sat there with wide eyes and his jaw slightly opened. Did he really confess his love _for_ Steve _to _Steve? Was he really that hammered?

"Yeah, sure, laugh it up." Tony said angrily. Steve calmed down and looked back at Tony who was angrily looking down at his bed sheets. There was also a mixture of hurt in his eyes. It was then that Steve realized that Tony – despite the drunken state he was in last night – was telling the truth. He really did love him.

Steve tilted Tony's head up to face him. At first, the genius swatted at his hand, but Steve was persistent and finally got Tony to meet his eyes.

"You weren't lying?" He asked.

"Of course not. I may have been drunk, but even I wouldn't kid about something like that." Steve blinked a few times and sat speechless. "And now you probably hate me." Before Tony could say another stupid statement, Steve shook his head.

"Quite the opposite really." He whispered. "What if I told you that I felt the same way?" Tony's eyes went wide.

"You love me?" He asked shocked. "_Back?_" Steve put a hand on Tony's lower back and pulled him closer while his other hand stayed on his cheek gently caressing it.

"I love you back." He smiled. Both men stared at each other for a moment as their smiles grew. "And there's something I've wanted to do since the moment I met you." He whispered.

"What's that?"

"This…" He leaned forward gently pressing his lips to Tony's who responded instantly to the contact. He got onto his knees and crawled over Steve as he straddled him pulling him closer. A small moan escaped the soldier as Tony nipped his bottom lip. He opened his mouth allowing the genius access and felt his heartbeat accelerate as their tongues met and fight for dominance. Tony won – he'd waited long enough for this moment – and grinded his hips a bit hearing a soft groan escape Steve that he absolutely loved the sound of. But he knew it was too soon for anything of that nature and they finally had to part when air became a need.

"That was worth the wait…" Tony said pressing his forehead against Steve's and took deep ragged breaths. "_You _were worth the wait." A smile lit up Steve's face once he caught his breath.

"So were you." He said pressing another hungry kiss to Tony's lips. The passion in the kiss took Tony back a bit as Steve instantly won in dominance. There wasn't even the slightest bit of a fight between them, he just won it. "And I think we're both just about done waiting for each other." The soldier whispered into the geniuses ears with a seductive tone to his voice.

"Hot, Cap. Very hot." Tony smirked and ripped Steve's shirt open watching the buttons go flying. "And I agree we've waited long enough." Their lips crashed back together.

Maybe it _wasn't_ too soon for anything of that nature.

**I hope you all liked that. I had a lot of fun writing that! Drunk Tony was really fun to write.**

**Anyway, this is obviously just going to be a collection of one-shots of all different kinds of pairings. MAINLY Stony, but I might also throw in some Broki, Clintasha, Broney – which I don't ship – ETC.**

**I take suggestions so whatever you want to hear I'll consider it and see what I can pound out – if I can. This is going to be fun if you send me suggestions! I'd love to write some of them out! **

**Obviously REVIEW and just enjoy these little one-shots I come up with. **

**Happy Reading! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **_Sometimes All You Have to Do Is Hold On Tight and Never Let go. _

**Inspiration: **_I was feeling a little down…so this came to me… _

Nervously, his eyes shot open and they darted around the room he was in. A bag had just been yanked off of his head – he knew that feeling a little to well to care for – and his vision just came to. Since he had been unconscious most of the time, he was a little to used to the dark.

The room was dark and he was laying back on a dirty and torn up queen sized bed. His hands were handcuffed to the bedposts and so were his legs. If he wasn't so heavily drugged, he was sure he would try to struggle out of them and try to bribe and or yell at his captors.

"Where did you find this one?" A raspy male voice said. "He's of high importance, you realize that." The other person in the room – a female – giggled. It was high pitched and for some reason he found himself thinking about how downright annoying it was.

"I know. And I found him when I was walking down the street." The man chuckled darkly,

"You never cease to amaze me." That day, he had just gotten back from a meeting and was going down the street to get some coffee while Pepper and Happy waited in the car for him. Steve had woken him up and struggled to get him ready, so he had no coffee in his system. Henceforth he thought it was a good idea to run down the street to Starbucks and get a cup of coffee so he could survive another day.

On his way down the street though, he was hit upside the head by a hard object, and that was the last thing he remembered. Now here he was in some strange room with two people conversing in front of him. It worried him, but he didn't want to let it show. But considering he was so heavily drugged, he didn't exactly know what he looked like. He could be drooling for all he knew!

There was a sliding noise and something silver shone in the dim lighting of the room. A dark laugh escaped the girl in the room.

"This is going to be a lot of fun, isn't it?" She said crawling across the bed towards him. He wanted to do something, but moving wasn't exactly an option. She proceeded with her dark ways and after tearing off his shirt with the object in her hands – he figured out it was a knife – she dug the blade down into his skin and began to run it down his stomach. A cry of pain got caught in his throat as he stared down at the girl hovering above him mutilating his skin.

"What do you propose we do with this one next?" The girl asked licking the crimson blood off of the knife. It made him feel nauseous, but since he couldn't move there was nothing he could do. He just sat back and waited. "Billionaire blood tastes pretty good." She commented tossing the knife down.

"Whatever you'd like to do would be fine by me." The man with the raspy voice replied darkly.

"There are quite a few things I'd wish to do with this one…" The girl replied peering down at him as she straddled his waist from when she cut his skin. "He is quite handsome, don't you think?" The man chuckled,

"Do as you wish, my dear." Their eyes locked briefly and she looked back down at him lying on the bed.

"Imagine the headlines…Tony Stark gone missing. And a few days later they'll recover his dead body from some dumpster." She laughed darker than before. "God, I'd love to see the reaction his lover would give. What was his name again?" The question was more so addressed to Tony than the other man. "Oh right, _Steve_." She pronounced his name in a serpent tone and glared harder at him. "Imagine what he'll look like when they find your naked, mutilated body. The pain he'll be going through. The hurt. And of course the guilt. It'll drive him insane." How dare they talk about Steve like that? He did his best to muster a glare and succeeded. "Perhaps we'll carve him a nice note into your chest before we dispose of you." He thrashed once and she fell off of him hitting the floor. Their drugs were weak.

"Get up!" The man shouted at her. "Quit playing around!" He marched over to Tony and shoved a large purple pill down his throat. "Get to work!" He left the room leaving Tony alone with the wicked girl who still sinisterly smiled at him.

"Right away, sir." She said taking off the brown dress she wore to reveal that she was completely naked underneath. She walked back over to him and he knew what was going to happen. When he felt her hands touch his skin and start to undo his belt and pants, he shut his eyes tight not wanting to watch. Hopefully the drugs were strong enough so that he wouldn't feel anything. But he knew that was a long shot. He knew he'd bleed, he knew it'd hurt, and he knew he would wish he was dead.

When he felt her crawl on top of him, his eyes shot wide as a screaming sob escaped his lips. Tears fell down his cheeks as she continued out her deed on top of him. He shut his eyes again and heard another sob escape him. Yeah, he wished he was dead.

OOO

He lay naked on top of the bed breathing weakly and staring at all the cuts the girl had left on the bed. The already dirty sheets were splattered with blood and sweat. He was secreting both still. It felt like he'd been there a week, but he knew it wasn't true. But in all truth, he had lost track of the days. For all he knew he could have been there a month. All he knew was he wanted to die. Death would be better than this. And to think he'd never get the chance to see Steve again before he died.

The girl and the man walked into the room again and he began to thrash and struggle. The both just laughed darkly and shut the door. A scream escaped Tony as he felt tears starting to flood out of his eyes again. What kind of sick twisted person did this?

Today, it was the mans turn to have a little _fun_. Or that's at least what they called it. He walked over taking off his pants and pulling out a knife. Once again, Tony shut his eyes.

OOO

"Steve, slow down, we can't understand you." Natasha said once she, Clint, and Bruce all got to Stark Tower. Thor wasn't there for obvious reasons. "Can you say it again?"

"Tony's gone!" He shouted. "He's been gone for three days and we can't find him anywhere!" The soldier was pacing the floor running a hand through his hair nervously which rumpled it a bit.

"What?" Bruce asked in a hushed voice. "He's missing?"

"Yes." Steve said sitting down finally with the others. "We can't find him." The 'we' he was referring to was him, Pepper, and Happy.

"Give me the pass code to get into the lab. I have an idea." Natasha said standing up and walking down the stairs. Steve followed quickly with the others and gave her the pass code as she entered it in and gained access to the lab.

"What are you doing?" Bruce asked as she walked over to a computer and began to type and punch in a bunch of things that none of them could follow.

"I'm tracking Stark's cell phone." She said. Steve mentally slapped himself for not thinking that. "There, I've got it." She said stopping and writing down the address to some abandoned warehouse that wasn't even ten minutes away. "Common, we have to get there fast, this can't be good." They all rushed out of the lab. Steve grabbed his shield on the way out, Clint made sure he had enough arrows, Natasha made sure all of her guns were loaded, and Bruce, well Bruce made sure he was angry. He always was, so he was ready. Maybe he wouldn't need the Hulk, but he was never certain.

They climbed into a car and sped off down the street towards the address Natasha had.

OOO

It had been a while since the man and the girl came into the room last. So he sat staring at the ceiling humming choppy lyrics to an Aerosmith song he knew. His eyes were drooping shut and he felt tears still falling down his cheeks. Never before in his life had he wanted to die this bad. If death came, so be it. At least this would be over.

Before he got another chance to think of another dark thought, there was a loud banging outside, followed by screams and gunfire. Tony looked at the door nervously as he sat there not able to move. He really wished he had pants on right now, but those were torn up in the corner. Another bang sounded followed by more screams which muffled voices he wanted to hear.

There was a bang on his door and he jumped. This certainly couldn't be good. He tried to inch away as far as he could in his weak and bloody body. But movement wasn't exactly working to his avail right now.

"It's locked!" A familiar sounding voice said.

"Move, I'll break it down." Another very familiar voice said. There were two seconds of brief silence before there was another loud bang and the door came flying into the room and landed on the floor. Outside, there were more gunshots. Someone was still fighting.

Tony let out a weak scream and thrashed trying to get away from the people who came running in towards him. He opened his eyes when someone came over and gasped when they looked down at him.

"Tony, oh my god." The voice was of his best friend, Bruce Banner. Tony made a struggling sound and wanted to reach for Bruce and hold onto him. A familiar face meant freedom.

He felt the straps around his feet break and he turned when someone broke the handcuffs around his wrists. It was Steve.

Once he was free, he felt Steve fling his arms around the genius and pick him up.

"Did you get them?" He slurred still heavily drugged.

"Natasha and Clint are taking care of them." Steve answered. Tony shook against Steve and gripped him very tightly as they headed down the hallway as quick as possible. Bruce called to Natasha and Clint who had managed to capture the man and woman. They all walked over to where Natasha was holding the two of them with Clint pointing an arrow at them. Tony gasped and buried his face into Steve's shoulder when he saw the two of them.

"Their names are Avery and Max Fisher." Natasha said. "Fury said he's on his way with someone to take them to jail or wherever they send scum like these people. He said to just take Tony to SHIELD headquarters and figure out what happened. Although I think we all know what did…" Tony shook harder in Steve's arms and clutched to his shoulder.

"Look at him as he cowers into his lovers shoulder! We broke him! All he is is a man in a suit, but underneath that he's just as pathetic as the rest." The woman – Avery – shouted spitting at them.

"Shut up." Natasha said banging Avery's head into the wall. The woman let out a cry of pain and then looked down at the floor. "You three should go." She said with her eyes landing on Tony who still shook in fear. Bruce and Steve nodded and they carried Tony out of the building and into the car where they wrapped him in a blanket. Bruce drove while Steve sat in the backseat trying to calm down Tony who still shook and was crying.

"What happened in there?" Bruce asked driving slow enough to hear his friend if he spoke. "What did they do?" Tony didn't speak, he just brought his knees up to his bloody chest under the blanket and a loud sob escaped him.

"Not now, Bruce…" Steve said realizing it was bad timing to ask. He pulled Tony close to him and tried to smooth back his hair which was crusted with blood. His blood. "Oh my god…" Steve muttered seeing all the cuts on the genius's skin. "We'll have to take him to the hospital…"

"There's a hospital wing at headquarters." Steve nodded and tried to shush Tony who was still shaking and crying uncontrollably.

OOO

"So happened to him?" Clint asked while he sat in a small room with Steve, Natasha, Bruce and Fury.

"He was tortured to say the least. And raped repeatedly." Fury said looking in a folder he was handed. A nurse gave it to him muttering something to him and leaving. "He was heavily drugged so it made him unable to do much other than slightly move and obviously cry." Fury tossed the folder down and shook his head.

"Who were they?" Bruce asked referring to Avery and Max.

"Just two sick and twisted people. Nothing more."

"Where were they taken?" Natasha asked.

"A mental institution. They're going to be locked up there for the rest of their lives." Fury said and sighed. "I need some air." He walked out of the room and left the four of them alone.

"I'm going to see Tony." Steve said before he quickly excused himself and headed down the hall towards the room where Tony was. The others figured it was best that they didn't tag along. Those two needed to be alone together for a bit.

Steve opened the door to Tony's room to find him standing over by the window and staring outside. He was in pajama pants and an unzipped sweater. His stomach was covered in gauze and bandages. When he heard the door shut he turned around with a scared look in his eyes.

"It's just me." Steve said holding up his hands. When he said that, Tony hurried over and flung himself into Steve's waiting arms. "It's okay…" The genius was shaking slightly. It pained Steve to see the man he loved unhinged like this.

"It's not okay." Tony cried into his lover's chest clenching his shirt in fists. The sleeves of his sweater were tangled with it since it was a bit to large for him. "It's not okay."

"Yes it is. You're safe now, I'm here with you and no one is going to hurt you again." He smoothed Tony's hair back – which had been freshly washed – and shushed him when a soft sob escaped him again.

"Everything hurts so badly, Steve." He said touching the gauze on his stomach and wanting to tear it off. "It hurts!"

"I'll go get the nurse to give you some painkillers."

"No!" Tony gripped his lover's shirttails and pulled him back. "I don't want to be drugged anymore. Please, no more." Steve shushed him and led him over to the bed where they both sat down.

"Okay, no more." He said gently and put one arm around Tony while the other was in front of him holding one of his hands tightly. Tony leaned his head down onto Steve's shoulder and calmed his breathing and his shaking. "You're going to be okay." Steve whispered calming him down.

"Everyone must think I'm so weak." He said.

"No one thinks that, Tony. They understand." Steve tightened his hold on the genius.

"You guys must hate me."

"We don't hate you, Tony." He said pulling the genius away a bit to meet his eyes. "We would never hate you for something that wasn't your fault. And I could never hate you, ever." He smiled at Tony weakly and pulled him back down. "I love you. So much." The comment made Tony's shaking die down a bit and he nuzzled closer to the soldier.

"I love you too." He said in a choked voice.

They sat in silence just holding onto each other. It would take a while before Tony was completely healed and could go about without fear again. But of course they would give him time. It wouldn't be long since he had already overcome so much in his life. So until that time came, hopefully no missions would come along and they could all relax and Tony could calm down. They would all be there for him, especially Steve. Because sometimes all you have to do is hold on and never let go. And that's exactly what Steve would do.

**Yeah, this was dark…sorry…I wasn't in the brightest of moods when I wrote it. But it had a somewhat happy ending, right?**

**Please review and leave suggestions! I'll be glad to write some of your suggestions! **

**Happy Reading! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: **_This is how I Party _

**Inspiration: **_I had a pool party at my friend's house and this idea hit me. Our party was more in check though… ;)_

"I have to hand it to you, Stark; you can really throw a party." Bruce clapped a hand on Tony's shoulder as they gazed at all of the people dancing below in party clothes and some in bathing suits. Half of them were drunk and a few were even passionately making out with each other in the corners. Bruce was among the group in bathing suits since he just got out of the pool and was still soaking wet. Like Tony cared if he got water in his house though. If someone fell it was their fault, not his.

"Glad that you're enjoying yourself, Brucey." He smirked as the music seemed to get louder. One day about a week ago, Tony decided to throw yet another crazy party at his house in Malibu. Hopefully this one wouldn't end like his birthday party did though. That was turmoil! But the guy was dying, so no one could blame him.

"Even Steve seems to be enjoying himself." Bruce pointed out looking at Steve who was surrounded by about three girls who seemed to be absolutely swooning over him. One of which was in an American Flag bikini. The sight made Tony chuckle, but for some reason he wanted to go and shoo the girls away from Steve. Maybe he was just jealous that the soldier was getting more attention than him. But the feeling seemed to go deeper than that.

"Yeah, seems that way, doesn't it?"

"He's probably panicking inside though." Bruce said sympathetic for the soldier who still was very nervous around women.

"Poor Spangles." Tony and Bruce laughed with each other a moment before Bruce walked off being beckoned to the pool again by a group of attractive girls. But he was just like Steve at times when it came to women, except he was a little less nervous. But just a little.

Tony's eyes scanned the room as the DJ put on the song _American Woman _by Lenny Kravitz. He held a thumb up to the DJ who grinned in return and turned up the music making the walls shake. It was true; Tony really knew how to throw a good party. It was part of the perks of being, well, him.

He headed down the stairs to join the party and was nearly dragged away by about five women who wanted to dance with him. Kindly though, he declined and kept walking through the massive crowed of people. His eyes were locked on his destination as he took a sip of scotch and handed it to someone random before he kept walking over.

"Enjoying yourself?" He asked a very red and startled looking Steve.

"Very much." He said looking over his shoulder at the genius. The girl in the American Flag bathing suit was sitting on his lap while the other two were beside him talking. Tony couldn't help but want to slap the girl on his lap. Or kick her out. Either would work well for him.

"I hope these ladies are being nice to you." He half joked but was half serious.

"Oh, we're playing very nicely, Mr. Stark." The girl on Steve's lap said nuzzling closer to the soldier who got even redder. "No need to worry, he's in good hands." The three of them giggled and Steve just looked up at Tony with a very red face but there was a smile on it. A nervous one.

"I hope so." Tony said clapping a hand on Steve's shoulder. "Mind if I steal him away from you for a bit though?" The three of them whined in response letting Tony know they minded. Of course he didn't care and hoisted Steve to his feet. The girl in the American Flag bathing suit stood up just before Steve did or else she would have fallen on the floor.

"What is it, Tony?" Steve asked wondering why the genius suddenly pulled him away from the three ladies. In truth, Tony – believe it or not – was jealous. So jealous it made him mad. Of course he didn't let it show to any of them though. And the worst part was that he didn't know why he was so jealous. All he knew was that it wasn't because Steve was getting so much attention. Tony could have any woman in the room – hell, any woman in America – he wanted, but he still refused.

"Nothing, I just didn't like those girls ogling you." He shrugged nonchalantly and pulled him over to a couch where he sat down pulling the soldier along with him. "Now, you party with me." One of Tony's arms went around him and he motioned for a couple of drinks as the song changed to a very poppy song by Nicki Minaj. Personally, he hated the artist, but his party goers seemed to love it.

"And how do you party, Stark?" Steve chuckled as someone handed Tony a scotch and Steve a beer.

"Like this." The genius took a sip of his scotch and watched as Steve took a sip of his beer knowing it'd have no effect on him. "Common, Rogers, how about we go swimming?" He said turning to the soldier who was a bit confused at Tony's friendliness.

"Are you serious?" He asked nervously laughing.

"Dead serious. But make sure that girl in the American Flag swimsuit stays away." Steve shook his head and let a loud sigh escape his lips. "Common, Spangles, it'll be fun." Tony hoisted Steve up to his feet and took his wrist leading him through the crowed of people heading to the pool.

"Aren't you going to change, Stark?" Steve asked.

"Nope." The genius smirked and opened the doors to his pool room where he unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it aside hearing a cheer arise from everyone in the pool. Steve took off his t-shirt and watched as Tony walked over to the side of the pool in just his dress pants. He beckoned with his hand for Steve to come over and the soldier obeyed and joined him at the side.

They both jumped into the water and arose hearing the group of people in the pool cheer again. Steve pushed his dripping hair back while Tony just flicked his aside with a quick motion of his neck.

"Happy, Stark?" Steve laughed swimming over to the genius.

"Very." Tony said taking in Steve who was soaking wet in the pool water. For some reason it made his heart race. "I think the girls over there are happy as well." They both looked over at a group of girls who were basically eye humping the both of them. Steve blushed again and turned back to Tony.

"I'm sure they're happier to see you." He said a bit quieter than he intended.

"I'm sure they are, but I don't care." _I'm happy to see you. _The thought made him question himself for a second, but then he just shook his head. _Fuck it,_ he thought,_ I'm attracted to Steve Rogers. _That thought was obviously very true.

Steve walked over to Bruce who was sitting on the ledge with a fruity drink in his hands with a girl next to him. She was wearing a frilly strapless pink one piece bathing suit and had stunning blue eyes accompanied by blonde hair. But she wasn't flirting at all; she was actually talking about the different forms of radiation with Bruce. And he seemed more than intrigued.

"How's it going, Captain?" Bruce asked looking down at Steve. "Tony got you to come in the water?"

"Yeah, and he came in wearing his designer dress pants. I sometimes question if he really is a genius or not." Both men laughed and Tony walked over carrying two glasses of wine.

"Looking classy, Stark!" Bruce said laughing as Tony handed Steve a glass of the red wine.

"Aren't I always?" They all laughed and Bruce turned back to the girl he was talking to and offered her a drink of his fruity beverage. She gladly took one and they picked up their conversation where it left off. "Isn't that cute?" Tony chuckled pulling Steve away from the two of them.

There was a loud cheer from the group as the song changed. Apparently they all liked it, but once again, Tony was indifferent. Mike Posner wasn't exactly his top pick of music. Neither was his song _Looks like Sex _that blared loudly making everything shake.

"Nice music, Stark." Clint said walking over with Natasha under his arm. Both were clad in bathing suits and looked like they just got out of the water.

"I'd say so." Tony chuckled leaning over the ledge as the two assassins sat down dipping their feet in the water.

"At least the house is still standing, right?" Natasha joked referring to his birthday party that she was present for. "It might not be in about five minutes considering how loud this music is."  
"You love it." He said as Steve came over. Tony subconsciously put an arm around the soldier's waist. It surprised them all when Steve didn't move to get out of the genius's grip.

"I feel like a teenager again." Clint said looking at the red solo cup of beer in his hands. "And you even have beer pong going on upstairs. Is this a frat party?" Clint asked cocking his eyebrow with a laugh.

"Beer pong? Really?" Tony chuckled wondering who started that up. "I'm going to guess you started that, didn't you Robin Hood?"

"Damn right I did." He chuckled setting down his cup and getting in the pool. Natasha climbed in right after him and did a flip under the water with Steve. They said something to each other and hurried over to the deep end where they climbed out and took hands as they both took a step back and – still holding hands – got a running start and flipped into the pool together. They resurfaced laughing.

"So tell me, Stark, what's with the whole touchy feely act you have going on with Steve? You seem to have your arm around him a lot this night and you seem to be having eye sex with him too." The archer winked.

"Shut up, Barton." The genius laughed giving Clint a playful nudge backward.

"You can tell me. I can keep a secret from the capsicle."

"Something tells me you can't."

"Well then you'd be a smart man." They both laughed and took a sip of their drinks before Tony turned to Clint.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't attracted to the man. I think I have been for a while, I just never admitted it to myself or something." Clint stared at the genius for a long second and then tilted his head downward raising his eyebrows as if telling Tony, 'Go on'. "What more do you want me to say, Barton? The man is sexy. Have you seen that ass?" Clint sputtered his beer and burst out into laughter.

"Steve, guess what?" He shouted over to Steve who was sitting with Natasha on the ledge in the deep end. The soldier turned his attention to the archer who was now getting tackled down by an infuriated – and embarrassed – Tony. "Tony thinks you have a nice ass!" He said once he resurfaced from the water. Tony slapped Clint upside the head and turned to Steve who had his eyebrows raised and began to chuckle.

"You're not to bad yourself, Stark." He called making Natasha laugh and Tony turn a light shade of pink.

"Can't you just feel the sexual tension?" Clint laughed.

"Remind me to kill you in your sleep." Tony said turning to him.

"I'd like to see you try." Both men laughed and turned around when they heard a loud splash and saw Thor had joined them clad in one of Tony's bathing suits. This trip to the pool with Steve had turned into an Avengers gathering.

"My friends!" Thor boomed putting an arm around both of them. "Man of Iron, this is a joyous gathering you have going on right now!" He said grinning at Tony who was struggling to get out of the demigods grip.

"Glad you're enjoying it, meatswing." He said once Thor let them both go.

"You have odd music here on Midguard." He noted hearing the song _Too Close _by Alex Clare bounce off the walls. Everyone was sure that there wasn't any music like this on Asguard.

"Indeed we do, Thor." Clint agreed not enjoying the dubstep music too much. It wasn't exactly his style.

"It's different than what I'm used to, that's for sure." Steve said walking up with Natasha who went directly over to Clint and kissed his cheek.

"I'm sure this party would suck if we all sat around listening to Glenn Miller." She said laughing but smiling over at Steve who knew it was true. The 21st century was sure different.

"Swing dancing is fun though, I will admit to that." Tony said nodding and put an arm around Steve's waist again. The others shrugged figuring he was right and Natasha dragged Clint away towards the hot tub. He gladly complied and followed her.

"This DJ is getting a raise!" Tony announced hearing _Shook Me All Night Long _start playing. Steve and Thor laughed knowing the genius was probably about ten times more happy right now as he bopped along the music. "Common, Rogers, shake that fine ass." Tony figured since Clint already told Steve he thought he had a nice ass that there was no harm in the comment.

"I'll pass." Steve said laughing so hard that he had to lean on Thor – who was also dying of laughter – for support. "If this is you sober, I wonder what you're going to be like drunk."

"Bite me, Cap." He said winking. Steve leaned forward and gently nipped at Tony's collarbone. Tony faked surprise as the soldier straightened up. "Oh, kinky!" He said making the two of them laugh harder.

"I think I will leave the two of you alone." Thor winked at the two of them making Steve fall over against the ledge with laughter. "I believe Man of Iron would appreciate that. A lot." Tony winked back at Thor as the demigod climbed out and went back inside to go do whatever it is demigods did at earth parties.

"Now where were we?" Tony asked with fake seduction flooding his voice. Well, a little portion of it was faked.

"You're such a flirt, Tony."

"Be glad it's for you, Spangles. I guess you just can't help being so attractive." Steve chuckled.

"One of the many perks of super serum I guess." He shrugged noting that Tony's statement had no sarcasm in it whatsoever. And that made him very happy to note.

"Well I like it." Tony winked going over to the ledge and leaning against it as Steve followed his lead and did the same letting Tony wrap his arm around his waist again.

"I figured that since you haven't been able to take your hands off me all night long." He laughed turning to the genius who just smirked and pinched Steve's hip.

"You like it."

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't." The comment took Tony by surprise.

"Really?" He turned to face the soldier who was just contently smirking and tapping out the beat to the song on the side of the pool.

"Yes, really. Is that such a surprise, Stark?"

"Since it's coming from you, yes." Steve chuckled and turned to face the genius who looked more elated than normal.

"I guess I just can't help it since you're pretty much irresistible." Tony couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or truthful.

"Am I now?"

"Ask anyone here."

"I'm asking you."

"You know my answer." Tony smirked and leaned back again as Steve did the same.

"Well, it means a hell of a lot more to me when it's coming from you." He remarked taking a sip of wine. Steve turned to face him again and smiled. "Stop that, it's too cute." He said with his eyebrows pointing downward as he smiled at Steve.

"Cute? That's a new one coming from you."

"Directed towards you? Yes, I would say so. Do you like it?" Steve turned red,

"Yes, I do." He said still smiling.

"Now you just look about ten times cuter." He said referring to the smile and the blush that were across Steve's face. "Aren't I better company than those three ladies?" He grinned.

"Much better company." He said turning away and taking a sip of his wine.

"Good, that was the goal."

"And I think you've reached it." Tony pondered that for a moment.

"Almost."

"Almost?" Tony spun around so he was in front of Steve and put his hands against the wall on either side of Steve.

"You know what would make this night about ten times more enjoyable for both of us?" He said with a seductive tone to his voice. Steve smirked,

"Enlighten me." Tony just smiled and leaned down so their lips were only millimeters away from each other. His eyes looked around from side to side and realized a couple of people were watching with confused looks on their faces. One or two of them were even disgusted.

"What are you waiting for?" Steve whispered against Tony's lips.

"Are you sure you want everyone watching."

"I'm sure. Now shut up and kiss me!" Steve's hands flung out of the water and got tangled in Tony's hair as he pulled him down so their lips finally met. A spark went through both of them as they both quickly responded to the kiss. They couldn't let it get to out of hand though considering where they were though, so after a few moments they both parted.

"I knew it!" Clint shouted from the hot tub and pointed towards the two men who turned to face the archer with confused looks on their faces. "I knew it was only a matter of time before Stark cracked!" Tony glared at him. "The unresolved sexual tension is now resolved! Halleluiah!" Everyone in the room laughed as Clint pulled Natasha up to sit with him on the ledge. "A little lesson, boys. This is what you should have done a while ago." He gently took Natasha's face between his hands and sweetly pressed his lips to hers as her arms went around him. "Then you run off to the bedroom and have hot sex." The room erupted with laughter as Natasha smacked Clint upside the head.

"Thanks for the lesson, Legolas!" Tony chuckled.

"You're welcome!" The archer laughed before he whispered _sorry _to Natasha and pecked her lips again and they fell back into the hot tub.

"Speaking of lessons," Tony said turning back to Steve who was growing redder and redder at the comment. "How about we go find somewhere private where we can teach each other what we know?" The genius winked as he pulled the soldier out of the water.

They headed through the massive crowed of people inside and headed for Tony's room. A couple of women stopped them and tried to pull Tony away from Steve. The soldier just pulled him back and pressed a kiss to his lips.

"Sorry ladies." He said pulling away from the kiss and looking at the two women standing perplexed. "He's taken." The two of them walked away and escaped to the privacy of Tony's room where he shut the door and – just in case – locked it as well.

"A little possessive, are we?" Tony joked dimming the lights.

"Well, I'm not going to just be one of your sluts, Tony." The soldier said as he grabbed Tony and pulled him down so the genius was straddling his legs. "So from now on, you're mine." Tony leaned forward,

"Sir, yes sir." He whispered against Steve's lips and they continued where they left off. "You see? This is how I party."

**I figured after that dark and twisted one-shot I wrote last, you all deserved a nice little party, so there you go! Now I want to party again! **

**I decided to change the description of this and just make it all Stony one-shots instead of a collaboration of them all. If you'd like to do any other's then private message me and I'll see what I can do. I might make another collaboration of different Avengers one-shots with different pairings, but who knows! As of right now, I'm very content writing Steve and Tony. **

**Anyway, as always, please REVIEW! I'd love to hear your thoughts. Also, requests are welcome, I will be more than happy to write out some of your ideas as well. **

**I love you all very much, keep the love coming! **

**Happy Reading! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: **_I Don't Need Help, I Just Need You! _

**Inspiration: **_I had a weird nightmare the other night where there was a monster – a masked man – trying to kill me and it woke me up with a start. It was terrifying and kept me up for about an hour, but it wasn't as bad as this… _

They said it was very likely Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. They said he more than likely should get counseling and speak about it. But that was the opposite of what he wanted to do. He never talked about it – he never had wanted to. Being where he was now, there was no use in talking about it. It wouldn't change what had happened; it would just keep the pain there for longer. Either way, he lost. So he refused to get counseling. And that was defiantly a story the media didn't need. No one needed to hear about the mighty Captain America getting counseling. That was certainly out of the question.

Instead he'd rather just wake up, night after night, and try to go back to sleep. But he knew even if he did go back to bed, he'd just fall right back into those unwanted memories that seemed to be on replay. The nightmares. After he woke up – from being asleep in the ice for seventy years – they started up and began to haunt him all through the night refusing to stop. It was rare if he got a good night sleep. Very rare.

The cold was always there too. He'd never forget that cold and of course the oppressive darkness and claustrophobic spaces he was in. Those were the large details he knew he would never ever forget. And with them haunting him every single night for all his life certainly didn't help his case at all.

And only once had someone caught him in the midst of having a nightmare. It had been Nick Fury and he had told Steve that he should get the counseling for his PTSD. Of course Steve doubted he had that – he didn't want to believe it – so he just ignored Fury's requests and – being Captain America – decided to brave it out on his own like he had done multiple times before during the war. Of course this was different, but he certainly knew what it was like to be alone. And furthermore, he knew what it was like to die.

Despite all of that, though, he still refused to get the help he needed. It was more than obvious he needed the help, but counseling was something he was not going to do. He wasn't about to pour out his heart and soul to just any random stranger, and he certainly wasn't about to say he had a shrink and let the public know that. Of course he knew there was nothing wrong with getting therapy and getting a little help, but weakness and fear was something he wasn't about to show. Not to just anyone.

When the plane had crashed and he was descending into the icy water, of course he showed fear, but no one was with him. It was appropriate to show fear at a moment like that. But when put in the public eye, it was unacceptable. The man was an American icon, there was no way he could show that he had massive fear, that he was even just slightly messed up in the head, and of course he couldn't show any weakness. That he saved for when he was alone. And when he woke up from his nightmares it showed the most.

Whenever he woke up, it was the same routine. He'd either open his eyes gasping, or sit up screaming, then he'd look around the room with a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face, and he'd wrap blankets around him suddenly feeling overly cold, and try to fall asleep. But some nights, he'd lay awake. He'd just lay awake and either stare at the ceiling, or he'd even occasionally cry. Especially if the nightmare involved Bucky or Peggy. Those were the touchy ones that usually tore him apart. How his hand was only inches away from Bucky's before his best friend fell down into the snowy wastes, or the choked pre-crying voice of Peggy as she talked to him over the radio and promised him a date. But it was only cut off when his plane crashed and the life he knew was over. And then the next thing he knew it was goodbye forties and welcome to the 21st century. And that meant it was time to adapt.

Some nights were worse than others. Those were the nights that consisted of all of his traumatic moments and would cause him to sit up shaking from the cold, crying, and trying to tell himself it was going to be okay. But he knew deep down it was never going to be okay. No matter how hard he tried or told himself that it was just a dream, he knew it would never be okay. They weren't just dreams to him. They were real. They happened, and they were never going away. Ever.

On his better nights, he would sometimes just drift back to sleep after about an hour or so. On worse nights, he would sometimes find himself out in the living room watching some movie on HBO or standing outside in the hot summer air and trying to warm up his chilled skin. He would even cry a bit when he was out there. It was too late for anyone to be up. Even if anyone was up it's not like they would hear or see him. They'd be to busy.

So that was where he found himself on night. He was out on the balcony staring down at the twinkling city below and trying to steady his breathing. It was always loud and fast and his heartbeat was always erratic. But he was used to it. A little too used to it. But he still refused to get help. Everyone on the team was somewhat messed up in their own way, they just kept it to themselves and or had their own way of dealing with it. And this is how he dealt with his. Of course his issue was a tad bit worse at times, but there was nothing to be done. Or nothing he would allow.

No one was ever up when he was, so no one had seen him awake outside on the balcony. And no one had seen him cry like he was doing just now. He was hunched over with his hands tightly gripping the metal railing that wrapped around the balcony. His knuckles were white and another loud choked sob escaped him as his eyes opened and blurred the bright city below him. The city he had to learn to adapt to. And that thought only made him cry more. Everything he knew, everything – and everyone – he loved was gone. Never to be seen again. It's all _gone!_

"What's all gone?" A voice came from behind him that made him jump. He must have shouted that by accident. But what perplexed him more was that someone was now joining him outside. No one ever joined him.

He turned around quickly to see Tony leaning against the doorframe with a class of water in his hands. That was a bit of a shock to see since he always had some alcoholic drink in his hands.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." Steve said a bit out of breath from his hysterical crying. Of course Tony noticed that.

"Why are you crying?" He set the water down on one of the small tables and walked over to Steve to get a better look at him. His eyes were bloodshot red and his pupils were dilated. His breathing was quick and erratic and he was sweating, but also shivering. "Are you okay, Cap?" Steve stiffly nodded and tried to turn away, but Tony grabbed his wrist and held him in place.

"Tony, I'm fine."

"Don't lie, Steve, this isn't fine." Tony said gently. "What happened? What's wrong?" He faintly remembered Fury speaking to the team about Steve having PTSD, but he never spoke of it after that. Tony figured it was nothing to worry about, but as he stood in front of Steve who looked helpless and scared, he knew it was bad. Worse than bad actually. This went deep.

Without another word, the genius led the still sobbing man back to his room. They passed Bruce – roused from the noise of Steve's sobs – who looked at the pair curiously and wondered what was wrong. He even questioned it, but his questions would go unanswered. Steve was too hysterical to speak, and Tony was determined to know why he was like that. Whenever he showed compassion like that, it was rare. That was one way that people knew how deeply terrible Steve's situation was right now. That's why Bruce wouldn't get an answer. Because Tony cared about Steve. Deeper than he should, and deeper than he had ever felt about anyone else. Steve was different.

Tony shut the door behind them as Steve walked over to his window and stood staring out his window still trying to choke back soft sobs. The clock on Steve's bedside table read that it was nearly two in the morning. Only Tony would be up at that hour and still be wide awake. That's kind of what coffee did to the guy.

"Will you tell me what's wrong now?" Tony asked with worry staining his voice. The tone made Steve turn around with wide eyes. Confusion was flooded within them behind all the sorrow. If he wasn't such a wreck, he would probably be grinning like an idiot since Tony actually cared about him! But his dark nightmare thoughts kept him frowning and crying. "Please?" That did it.

Without a moment to spare, Steve crumbled and fell down to the floor. Tony caught him in his arms just before he would bang against the floor. Not that it would hurt him, but who could leave anyone alone in that state?

The genius wrapped his arms around the soldier who clung to him like it was life or death. Loud sobs wracked Steve's body which only made Tony hold onto him tighter as Steve buried his face in Tony's muscular shoulder. Tony took short breaths as he stared down at Steve in confusion wondering what had made the normally fearless Captain crumble like this. What was doing this to him?

_We think the Captain suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder due to the events of his past. _

Nick Fury's words rang through his head one more time. That was all he had said about the matter. Nothing more than a sentence since he knew Steve didn't want pity. That was the last thing he wanted. He believed that no one should pity him. He didn't want anyone's pity or charity.

Well, to Tony, that was to damn bad.

He wrapped his arms tighter around Steve and nearly dragged himself into the soldiers lap in the process. He ran a hand up his back, tangled his fingers in the soldiers blonde hair and held him close feeling Steve do the same. The sad part though was that his sobs increased. Tony knew why though. Steve knew that Tony had figured out what was wrong with him. He knew that Fury told them all, but he certainly didn't expect them to remember. Least of all Tony. Until this day, Steve had no clue that the man cared about him even in the slightest. But someone who doesn't like you wouldn't be sitting on your bedroom floor and holding you in their arms while you sobbed your heart out.

"It's the same thing every night! I relive it, and it's killing me. It was my fault, it was all my fault. If I had gotten to him sooner I could have saved him!" Tony knew he was talking about Bucky. "And Peggy…I had a date, and I never got to go. And now every night I relive that crash, the chill of the ocean water, and…" Another sob escaped him and Tony just shushed him rubbing small circles on the soldiers back. He knew it hurt to talk about. He knew Steve hated it. They all knew the soldier didn't want any one to be his shrink and least of all one of them. But here he was listening to the soldier pour his heart and soul out to him.

"Whenever I fall asleep I hear the sound of the crash. The screeching metal and the shattering glass. And then the water floods in and I just keep falling further and further downward into the ocean. It never stops. It's so cold, and dark, and I can't breath!" The soldier took in a shaky breath and let out another sob into Tony's shoulder. "And now everyone is gone. Everyone I knew and loved and everything I loved is gone or changed. Nothing is the same, and it will never be the same! I was asleep for seventy years and I woke up to a different world that I can hardly function in. And everything is _gone!_" He clenched Tony's shirt in his fists and took short breaths.

Finally though, out of all the bottled up emotions he had, he just buried his head deeper into Tony's shoulder and screamed as loud as he could. In the scream, Tony heard it all. All of the guilt, the sadness, and the bottled up anger that he never let show. He could almost feel the pain Steve felt as he screamed. But one scream wasn't enough, another escaped the man and he brought his fists up and brought them back down lightly punching Tony's back. The genius didn't say anything; he just continued to rub small circles on Steve's back trying to calm him down.

A few minutes passed and Steve's screaming had stopped and gone back to softer and quieter sobs that slowly began to die down as he steadied his breathing. The shaking he had begun to do was calming down as well. But still, Tony didn't speak. He just lightly rocked them back and forth and tried to sooth Steve as best as he could. Just his presence was working just fine though.

"I don't need help…" He whispered making Tony stop the rocking.

"No, you don't." Tony finally spoke in a very calm and soothing voice. "We're all messed up in one way or another. None of us are perfect, but we fit together and that's all that matters. We work." Steve clenched his shirt tighter with each word that escaped Tony's mouth. "You don't need help. You feel alone…I've been there. I know." There was a short pause before he continued. "You don't have to be alone anymore. You'll never be alone." Steve lifted his tear stained head and looked at Tony with his big sad eyes. "If they are so convinced that you need help, then I'll help you. I'll listen. To anything. And I won't go anywhere, I'll always be right here with you." They stared at each other for a long moment. Minutes could have passed and they wouldn't know.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Steve asked utterly confused.

"Because I know the alone feeling you're feeling. I've been there. It sucks. You aren't the only one with PTSD." He paused and took a deep breath. "And I care about you more than any other person on this planet." Steve's teary eyes shot wide as Tony's met his one more time and he smirked.

"You're right…" Steve whispered, "I don't need help…I just need you." The soldier brought his hand up, positioned it behind Tony's head getting his fingers tangled in the messy black hair, and pulled him forward into a kiss.

Yeah, they were both messed up in their own ways mentally and physically, but together, they worked better than any pair. And that was all that matter. That was all that would ever matter.

**I had a lot of fun writing that. Dark and sad pieces are one of my specialties as long as it has a comforting/romantic scene in it somewhere. I love doing dark writing pieces. They're fun! **

**Anyway, my updates will be later from now on since I'm back in school and it's my junior year so I REALLY have to focus this year! But I promise I will update whenever I'm free my lovely viewers! **

**Please keep the love coming and REVIEW! I take suggestions and they are very greatly appreciated! I have a few other stories already in the works and on their way so expect those soon! **

**Happy Reading! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Title: Art…**

**Inspiration: It was the comment from cXrASSASSIN13 that actually inspired me to write this one – I'm not sure if it was a request or not, but I suppose I took it as one and it inspired me. It was to have Tony do something lovey dovey for Steve/show his softer side. Thanks for the idea! **

"Have any of you seen Tony lately? I haven't seen him in almost two days." Steve wandered into the living room to see Natasha, Clint, Bruce and Thor all sitting around and playing bowling on the Wii. If it weren't for the strap around the demigod's wrist, they were all certain that he would have flung the remote into the screen by now.

"We haven't seen him either." Bruce said looking over his shoulder after his turn. "Have you checked the lab?"

"Yeah, twice." Steve rubbed the back of his neck confused and watched Thor try to play the game. The bowling ball just few upward and down onto the floor.

"Have you tried asking Jarvis?" Natasha asked looking back at Steve. She was cuddling with Clint currently so they both turned. Steve wanted to slap himself when she suggested that. He'd completely forgotten about the AI. Natasha and Clint laughed at the dumbfounded look on Steve's face and turned back to the TV to watch Thor get a gutter ball.

"Jarvis, where's Tony?" Clint asked looking upward.

"Mr. Stark is in the room at the end of the hallway."

"What is he doing in there?" Bruce asked confused and glancing at Steve for a moment.

"I am not quite sure, Dr. Banner." Steve looked at Bruce again for a brief moment before he set down his sketch pad and hurried down the hallway. Not wanting something to be wrong, he picked up the pace. Two days was a long time to be in one room all alone.

He knocked on the door and heard rustling from within, but no response. Nervously he knocked again and took hold of the doorknob. He jiggled the doorknob only to realize the door was locked.

"Tony, are you alight?" He asked knocking again. Inside, there was more shuffling and then he heard Tony clear his throat.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Perfect, actually." He responded quickly as Steve heard more rustling. It sounded like crumpling paper.

"What are you doing in there? And why is the door locked?"

"Those answers are for me to know, and for you to find out, Mr. Rogers." Tony replied cheekily. Steve narrowed his eyes at the door.

"Very mature, Tony." He said rolling his eyes.

"I'm very mature." The genius said laughing. His laughter was cut off though when he began to hammer something into the wall.

"Tony, for the love of God, what are you doing?" Clint asked walking up behind Steve. "I swear to god, if you're building another nest in there for me, I will light it on fire this time." Steve snorted.

"Why would I spend two days building your paradise, Barton?" Tony said laughing from within the room.

"Ha, ha, very funny." Clint said crossing his arms.

"I'll have to go collect the eggs you laid in your nest. Steve, I'll make you an omelet." They both roared with laughter as Clint stood there with his cheeks slightly puffed out. There was a less than amused look on his face as his eyes switched from Steve's face to the door Tony was behind.

"You two suck, you know that?" He said finally.

"Yeah, we do." Tony replied and they both listened to him drill something into the wall.

"Oh my god, Stark, stop it." Natasha said walking up the hallway and shouting over the power tools obnoxious noise. "We can never do anything in this house with you being a nerd and making so much noise."

"Last I checked, this is my house." Tony replied over the drill. "I will do what I want in _my_ house. The only opinion I care about, besides my own, is Steve's."

"Oh, god, I'm so _shocked_." Clint said faking surprise. "Because I thought you only cared about _my_ opinion! Damn, I was sure as hell wrong." Clint faked a pout and turned his back to the door. "I thought you loved me, Stark! I thought we had something special!" His voice was filled with fake sorrow.

"Ew, no." Tony replied turning off the drill and then there was just more rustling.

"Ouch, that hurts, Stark. It really does." Clint said turning back to the door but smiling. "I want my shit back. We are so over." He said realizing that Steve and Natasha were busting up with laughter.

"We were never even together!" Tony shouted faking anger and a sad voice. "You never treated me well!"

"Coming from the man who slept with another man while we were totally together. God, I thought I meant more to you than that!" Tony snorted,

"You were just one of my sluts, Barton. Jeez." Steve nearly fell to the floor he was laughing so hard at that. "You don't even have a nice ass!"

"But I worked so hard on mine!"

"Not hard enough!" Tony began to hammer at something again.

"Whatever, Stark. I cheated on you anyway." He said pulling Natasha over to him. "I have someone better." The joking tone left his voice when he said that staring right into her eyes.

"Get a room." Bruce shouted from down the hall.

"Quit staring you pervert!" Clint shouted grabbing Natasha's wrist and walking away listening to everyone – including her – laugh. There was never a normal day around here.

This was the first night in a while that Steve woke up due to his nightmares and Tony was gone. He hated that. It always comforted him to have the genius right there beside him when he woke up. But when he realized he wasn't there, he just chuckled to himself after he calmed down. This would be going on three days now. What on earth was he up to in there?

With a groan, Steve stood up and slowly began to make his way out of the room and down the hallway which was pitch black except for a small fragment of light coming from under the door at the end of the hallway. Steve stopped for a second to just observe the door. There was rustling still going on behind it and he became more perplexed by the second. Of course the genius had stayed up long before, but three days was a little ridiculous. At least to Steve it was.

He strode over to the door and knocked on it gently hearing the rustling cease for a moment. There was a rattling noise from the door and Tony peaked out from the crack in the door and stared up at Steve with a slightly worried look on his face.

"Nightmares?" He asked softly.

"Not bad ones. I was actually just wondering why you haven't come to bed…in three days." It was Steve's turn to look slightly worried as he stared down at the genius before him who looked beyond tired.

"I've been working on a little…project." He said a little slowly and then glanced at his watch realizing what time it was. It made him yawn. Sleep sounded so nice right now, especially if it was in Steve's arms.

"Why not take a break? I know it isn't exactly your thing, but for me?" Tony stared up at the solider who was giving him the puppy dog eyes. No one could deny those eyes. Tony had been trying to work up a resistance towards them, but that goal was far from his reach. Steve was just too damn cute to deny.

"Not the puppy dog eyes." Tony whined, but grinned like a fool.

"I have no clue what you're talking about." Steve said pretending to be oblivious to his actions. Finally the genius sighed and shut the lights off in the room behind him. He shut the door and leaned up to kiss Steve for the first time in three days.

"Fine, you win." He said loving the way the small kiss lingered on his lips and made them tingle slightly. It felt good to feel his lovers touch again. "Let's go to bed." Steve grinned and led the genius away towards their room.

Once they were both in bed, they held each other close just glad to be near each other once again. It felt as if it had been forever.

"I need sustenance!"

"Patience, damn it!"

"I hate you!" Thor's booming voice rattle the house as he argued with Clint who was slowly cooking breakfast. It roused Steve and Tony who were a little pissed off to hear Thor shouting this early.

"Eat a fucking Poptart!" Clint shouted wanting to toss the hot pancake batter in the frying pan at the demigod.

"There are none left!"

"Why am I not surprised?" Clint said in a whiny voice as he continued to try to focus on his pancake making. He wasn't the best cook, so the look on his face was sheer concentration. But it was a bit of a funny sight to see especially since he was usually acting so childish lately…and he was in hawk pajama pants.

"Hurry up!" Thor boomed.

"Shut the fuck up, Thor!" Clint shouted trying to focus on the pancake. "This takes concentration." A groan escaped Thor – louder than his yelling – and he banged his head down on the table.

"I will end the both of you…" Natasha grumbled walking into the room and rubbing her tired eyes. "It is nine in the morning, Thor. I went to bed at two. Keep it to a dull roar next time." She almost hissed at the demigod who was now stuffing his face with crackers and coffee. As if he needed to be any more awake than he already was.

"Do not presume you can order me around." He growled with a mouth full of crackers. She just laughed. Thor wasn't exactly very evil with his mouth full of Saltines.

"Our friends…" Steve laughed sitting up and running a hand through his sleep mussed hair.

"They sure are crazy." Tony said sleepily from his pillow. Of course he still desired a bit more sleep since he'd been up three days before. Steve smiled at his lover whose eyes were barely open, and he leaned down to kiss his forehead.

"You need a shower." He whispered.

"No I don't." The genius whined.

"Yes you do, you're gross." Steve chuckled.

"I'm never gross." He protested with a smirk. "Ask any of my fans. I'm not gross." Steve snorted and stood up.

"Well didn't you say the only other opinion besides your own that you cared about was mine?" Tony sighed. "Exactly. And I say you're gross." He smiled at the defeated man who trudged off to go shower before he joined his loud friends in the kitchen for breakfast.

Steve put on a shirt and headed out to the kitchen where Thor was still shouting at Clint and Natasha was trying to ignore them and play on her phone to pass the time. He chuckled when he saw Clint pointing his bow at Thor threateningly.

"I almost shot you down once; don't think I won't follow through this time, meatswing." He said pulling back more on the arrow.

"I will end you." Thor was standing now and had his hammer held tightly in his hand.

"And Tony will end you both if you destroy his kitchen." Bruce said walking up and sitting down in one of the chairs before he shut his eyes. "Clint, just cook the food. Thor, sit down and shush." They did as Bruce said – of course they grumbled a bit – and continued the morning. Clint kept his bow clutched tight in his hands though so it was at the ready if it was needed.

Once Clint served the pancakes to everyone – he threw them at Thor who was still telling the archer to hurry – Tony finally joined them. He eyed Thor strangely as the demigod stuffed pancakes into his mouth. He just never stopped eating.

"Steve, come to the back room when you're finished eating." Tony instructed after he finished off his breakfast. He had one pancake and a cup of coffee – he never really ate too much. The soldier cocked an eyebrow,

"Okay…?" When Tony exited down the hallway, Clint wiggled his eyebrows at Steve.

"Should we put in our earplugs?" He asked grinning and giggling immaturely. Steve turned red, but bluntly said,

"No." Before he stood up and put his plate at the sink. For once he'd let the others do them so he could go see what Tony wanted. Or better yet, go see what he was up to. Three days was a long time to be locked in one room working on a project. Well, maybe not for Tony, but for Steve it was.

He headed down the hall towards the shut door – there was more shuffling inside – and he knocked softly on the door. The shuffling stopped and the door opened in a small crack again. Tony smiled up at Steve and took one of his hands.

"Shut your eyes." He said and the soldier complied and let Tony drag him into the room. "Well, a few days ago when I was down in my lab and you were drawing in the recliner…I got this idea. And, well, you know perfectly well what I get like when I get an idea. Anyway, for the past three days I've been in here working on this…for you." Steve slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room for a moment.

"It's…."

"An art room." Tony said somewhat shyly. That was certainly different for him. "I thought you might like it, but if you don't then that's fine." Steve had walked over to the wooden desk and ran his hand over the wood as he looked down at the sketch pad and different types of pencils and lead that rested on the desktop on top of a pile of sketch paper. Over by the window that overlooked the city was an easel with more sketch paper and pencils on and beside it.

He turned to face a cabinet with glass windows that contained rolls of paper, more pencils – as if there weren't enough – paints, paintbrushes, and a few canvas boards. He walked over and opened the doors to get a closer look at everything inside. This was certainly different than just his sketch pad and pencil.

"Do you like it?" Tony asked a bit nervous at what the soldier though.

"Like it?" Steve turned back around to face the desk and looked up at the shelves above it that held little things he could draw still life's from. There were even a couple of pictures of them and their teammates on the shelves as well. His favorite, though, was the one of him and Tony sitting across from each other in a booth at a fancy restaurant wearing suits and holding hands. Steve remembered that the waitress took the picture claiming they were the cutest couple she'd ever seen.

Steve turned back to Tony, walked over quickly, and hugged him close. "I love it." He whispered in the geniuses ears. He could feel Tony's muscles loosen up when he said that. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He leaned up and kissed the taller man before him and smiled contently into the sweet kiss.

They don't know how long they were kissing for – maybe a few minutes – before they pulled apart with Steve exclaiming that it had been a while since they had really kissed. And in truth, it had been. That's what kind of happened when Tony shut himself in on a project, but Steve had no problem with it. Now he had a place to go to when Tony was busy in the lab with more projects.

"I love you." Tony whispered against the soldiers lips. Steve smiled – slightly red – loving the way that sounded coming from him. He kissed the genius once more as if saying it right back to him. He loved the sweeter and softer side of Tony. It only made him love the man more.

**I hope you all enjoyed that and it was satisfactory! It took me literally a week to write, but part of that reason is because I'm back in school obviously. **

**Anyway, please REVIEW! I love your thoughts on my stories! Also, if you want you can request something if you'd like, I would love to write some! **

**Thank you for all the love so far! I love you all so very much! **

**Happy Reading! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Title: **_Come Back When You Can_

**Inspiration: **_There was no inspiration for this one…I just kind of came up with this… (And as for his age, I did an estimation on it, but I could never find anything that ever really stated how old Tony really is, so I had to estimate on it. Sorry if it's not correct, but I couldn't find it)…_

"Good evening, Mr. Stark. It's nice to have you back." A very chipper doctor said leaning over him with a clipboard in his arms. His hand was moving a mile a minute as he wrote down some information from Tony's EKG on the paper.

"Good to be back?" Tony sat up slowly and a bit confused as he pawed at the gauze that was wrapped tightly around his head. "Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital, sir. During your last mission you took quite a nasty blow to the head. You've been out for about four days now." Tony looked up at the doctor flabbergasted.

"I've been in a coma?"

"Yes, but it obviously wasn't bad at all." The doctor held up a hand as if to say, _calm down. _"Would you mind answering a few questions for me?" He pulled up a chair next to Tony's bed and sat down. It was the first time Tony could get a glimpse of his nametag and saw that his name was Doctor Travis Collins.

"Of course, Doctor Collins." Tony said rubbing his head again still a bit shocked at the news. When did that even happen?

"Okay, what is your name?"

"Anthony Edward Stark." He replied with his full name rolling off his tongue.

"How old are you?"

"38 years old."

"And do you have a partner?" Tony looked up at the doctor more confused than before.

"I don't have a partner, I work alone. Well, I have teammates – Avengers – but I don't have a _sidekick._" He watched as the doctor wrote that down before he stood up.

"Thank you." He said a bit dry. "We figured this would happen…"

"Figured what would happen?" He asked a bit worried now. What, was he paralyzed or something? Just to make sure, he shifted a bit and concluded he was fine.

"We figured you'd have…Amnesia." Tony's eyes went wide.

"Amnesia?" The doctor nodded slowly letting that sink in.

"Is there anyone you would like to see?" He asked softly.

"Bruce?" He said hoping his science bro was somewhere in the hospital. The doctor stared at him a moment before he stiffly nodded and went to go retrieved Doctor Banner.

Moments later, Bruce hurried into the room and smiled when his eyes landed on Tony who was sitting upright in his bed and sipping a cup of water. Tony's eyes lit up when he saw his friend – it was nice to see a friendly face.

"Look who's finally awake?" Bruce said sitting down in the chair where Doctor Collins was sitting a few minutes ago. "How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts." He chuckled readjusting his position so he could look at Bruce. "I've really been asleep for four days?"

"Yeah, you've been really out of it." They both chuckled before silence took over. Something wasn't right. "Is there anyone else you'd want to see as well?" He asked a bit quietly.

"Like who?" Bruce looked down at his feet letting his mind wander to the blonde man sitting and waiting patiently in the waiting room.

"Do you remember everyone on the team, Tony?" Bruce asked slowly. Tony sat quietly for a moment and looked like he was in deep concentration.

"Well I remember Thor since he blew up my toaster…last week?" _That was two months ago_. Bruce thought sadly. "Natasha of course since I've known her for a while now…and you obviously." Bruce sat in silence for a moment staring at his best friend. It was now clear that Tony did in fact have Amnesia. Just like the doctor predicted.

"No one else? Any friends, relatives, bosses?" Bruce choked out.

"Well I remember Pepper of course, then Fury and all his fucking glory, and Coulson." Bruce stiffly nodded and kept looking down at his feet. "I have the feeling I'm forgetting something."

"You are." Bruce whispered, but Tony caught it.

"What am I missing?" Bruce just shook his head. The doctor told them not to push any memories onto him if he forgot. They said he'd remember – if he remembered – in his own time.

"Do you want to say hello to everyone else?" Tony nodded a bit too eagerly. He missed his teammates though surprisingly enough. Bruce stood up and left the room in a bit of a hurry. Tony just sat back and waited for him to return with the others. In that time, he tried to wonder what it was he could have been forgetting or leaving out of the equation. He also tried to accept the fact that there was something he was leaving out due to the amnesia.

After what felt like ten minutes, the door opened again and Bruce peaked in to see Tony staring at him confused. Bruce tugged at something and pulled in a taller man with blonde hair. He was well built and had the most amazing blue eyes Tony had ever seen in his life.

"Tony, I'd like you to meet Steve Rogers." The kind doctor said pulling Steve into the room with him. For some reason, the name Rogers stuck out to him. Did he know that name?

"Nice to meet you." Tony nodded at the man who tried not to look at him. _Rude._

"He's another one of your teammates." Bruce said trying to get Steve to come into the room further. The soldier wouldn't budge from his place about ten feet away from the bed. Bruce knew why. "You remember Captain America, right?"

"I don't remember ever seeing him before." Tony admitted suddenly feeling bad. He'd never admit that though.

"It's okay." Bruce said practically reading his friends mind. Something on the blondes face, though, told Tony that it wasn't okay. It was far from it.

"It's nice to meet you." Tony said quickly and thrust his hand out feeling even worse. Was he close to this man before? Steve stiffly walked over and then stiffly shook his hand before backing away.

"It's nice to meet you too…" Steve struggled to get out as he looked down at the man in the hospital bed. The man who didn't remember a thing about him. "Please excuse me." He said and hurried out of the room just as Thor, Clint and Natasha was walking in.

"Steve…" Natasha said walking after him and seeing those blue eyes about to spill over with tears. "You remember me, I'll be right back." She said hurrying after the soldier while Tony said hello to Thor and got introduced to Clint who – after a few minutes of talking to him – he said he vaguely remembered. Someone like him was hard to forget. Amnesia couldn't even erase that guy.

Outside in the hallway, though, sat Steve with his head buried in his hands. Natasha had an arm around him – sympathy was rare for her – and she tried to tell him everything was going to be okay.

OOO

A week had gone by and everyone was back and living together at Stark Tower. Slowly, Steve was getting over his heartbreak and had to watch Tony flirt with other women, kiss other women, and hope it didn't escalate from there. But something told him it did. And that only hurt more. If only the genius would remember.

He did anything to keep his mind off the pain. Normally it just consisted of drawing, cooking, or just talking with the others. But Tony always seemed to show up and want to talk with all of them as well whenever Steve decided to try to sit and enjoy conversation with them. Not that he didn't enjoy conversation with Tony – lately he craved it – but when he was trying to get his mind off of the heartache the man was giving him, he was last person he wanted to see.

So today, a week later, he found himself standing alone in the kitchen working on making a fancy pasta dish called _Papardelle Alla Funghetti._ He had believed he was alone, so he had the radio turned up – a bit louder than normal – and was listening to a jazz station. It was all he knew well enough to enjoy listening to.

As he chopped up ingredients, he slowly swayed to the song that was flowing out of the radio. A light smile was on his face when he recognized the song playing. Most of the songs on the station he recognized. The smile was also directed towards the fact that he and Tony had danced to that song about a month ago. As he chopped up the food, he reminisced on that night.

The night had been so perfect. Slowly rocking in the arms of the man he loved, steeling kisses here and there and enjoying the way the genius would whisper sweet nothings in his ears and voice his love for him over and over again as the night progressed. And it didn't stop at the dance club either. Throughout the night, how Tony held him, touched him, and what he would whisper and say to him made him feel ten times happier and love the man even more.

But now all of that was over. And Steve feared the women that Tony had been brining home were enjoying that side of him now. The thought brought him down from cloud nine and he focused down on his cooking again as the song on the radio ended. A sigh escaped the soldier and he stirred the pasta that was almost done.

When the song didn't change, he looked up to see that the radio had been unplugged. Confused, he turned from his cooking and looked into the living room to see Tony standing in the center and looking out the window. He was holding a hand against the side of his head and breathing a bit off.

He looked over his shoulder to see Steve watching him, but just stared at the soldier confused. Their eyes stayed locked for a moment before Tony turned away shaking his head and muttering something to himself.

"What was that?" Steve asked wiping his hands on a towel before he took a few steps into the living room. But just as he did at the hospital, he was about ten feet away from the genius.

"Nothing, forget it." Tony said still holding his head and then glanced at Steve who was now slowly retreating back into the kitchen. "Wait, get back here." Steve obliged – gladly – and stood back in the place where he stood before. Tony's eyes met Steve's again and he cocked his head to the side. "Who were you to me?" He all but whispered. Steve looked down at the shorter man, but just shrugged.

"I think you'd know that answer." He said beginning to fidget a bit.

"All I know is that I keep getting fragments of memories back and some of them involve you and me…" Steve shrugged,

"You'll know when all the memories come back I guess…" He said taking a step back and began to head back into the kitchen where his pasta dish was probably a goner by now.

"You said you loved me." Those words made him stop in his tracks. There was silence though after that as they both just stood there. Finally, Steve opened his mouth and struggled to barely whisper,

"At one point, you used to say the same to me. Everyday." Without another word, he hurried away to the kitchen and tried to ignore Tony's presence in the living room as he sat on the couch trying to collect his memories. Steve tried to keep it down as he let a few tears fall into the burnt pasta.

OOO

After hours of tossing and turning in his bed that was sadly empty on the other side of the bed, he grumbled and stood up to go out to the living room. It had been two weeks since Tony woke up with Amnesia and everyone was pretty much used to it. Even Steve was getting slightly used to it despite the urge he had to just grab Tony by the shoulders and slam him up against the wall and kiss him with as much passion as he could and hope the genius remembered who he was to him. And maybe that revelation would lead to something more than just kissing. Because Steve sure missed Tony's touch and craved to feel him again.

So instead of thinking about it more and wondering what could be, he turned on the television outside and apparently just tuned into a movie called Forrest Gump. The film confused him though, so he slowly found himself falling in and out of sleep and in and out of dreams and memories.

"Evening, Cap." Steve jerked awake and turned to see Clint had joined him on the couch with a bowl of popcorn in his lap. "Popcorn?" He offered the soldier who shook his head and turned back to the screen while Clint munched the food beside him.

They sat in silence for a few minutes while Forrest went and saved everyone after they were bombed and shot down in Vietnam. It made both of them a little sad when Bubba died in Forrest's arms.

"You miss him." The archer said without turning to Steve.

"What?"

"Tony. You miss him." There was a silence between them and Clint finally turned to face him with a knowing look crossing his face. "We've all noticed your shift in attitude. And not to mention the countless times we've caught you crying."

"You'd do the same if it were Natasha." Steve retorted feeling a bit defensive.

"I would be upset, yes." Clint turned away and faced the screen again. "We all know it hurts." He whispered eating a few more pieces of popcorn.

"You have no idea…" Steve said pulling his legs up to his chest and wrapping an arm around them.

"It just takes time. And maybe he'll even remember."

"It's been two weeks, Clint."

"It can take months, Steve. It's not going to be easy." Steve was silent and looked back at the screen where Forrest was now in the hospital for getting shot in the buttocks. It almost made Steve laugh when he offered Lieutenant Dan some ice cream.

"I know it hurts." Clint said putting a hand on Steve's shoulder. "Believe me, I do. But sulking isn't going to solve anything. Try spending more time with him instead of avoiding him. It'll help. And if he could fall in love with you once, he can sure as hell do it again." The solider smiled and turned back to Clint who was smiling at him.

"Thank you." He said softly and pulled the archer into a hug. They turned back to the screen to finish the movie and the bowl of popcorn.

OOO

"Steve, c'mon, wake up." A voice roused the soldier who was currently sleeping soundly on the living room couch. The movie had ended and Clint left when a second one started up – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It was two in the morning after all and they were both tired. Hence the fact Steve had fallen asleep midway through the movie and was just now awoken when it ended.

His eyes fluttered open and he looked up to see a sight he hadn't seen in what felt like forever. The eyes he met were the beautiful brown eyes of the man he loved. Tony. Despite his urge to go back to sleep, he sat up and rubbed his eyes so he could focus on him better.

"What is it, Tony?" He asked trying not to sound rude at all even though he was a bit peeved the genius awoke his slumber. But he was actually very happy he came to him and woke him up. It was nice to see him again looking only at him

"I'm sorry." He said with a bit of struggle. Apologizing wasn't really his thing sometimes. So it was hard.

"For what?" The soldier yawned and ran a hand through his bed head before he met Tony's eyes again. The sight made him wake up a bit more though. Tony's eyes were wide, his eyebrows were pointed downward and his lip jut ever so slightly quivered. "What's wrong, Tony?" He asked worried.

"I forgot…"

"You forgot what's wrong?"

"No." Tony averted his eyes from Steve's before blurting, "I forgot you." It came out choked and Steve of course didn't miss that of all things.

"You forgot a lot of things, Tony; it's not a big deal." The soldier said softly and rested a hand on the geniuses shoulder. "It will just take time for the memories to come back." _If they come back…_

"It is a big deal, Steve. I forgot some of the most important things in my life!" He turned back to face Steve who was a bit confused. "And most importantly I forgot you. I forgot us, what we had – what we _have!_" He let out a shaky breath, "I'm so sorry."

"Don't force any memories on yourself." He said eyeing the man before him.

"I'm not forcing any memories on myself! I remember, Steve, I remember everything!" A tear trickled down his cheek with the thoughts of all the terrible things he did with other women during the past two weeks. "And _damn it!_ I'm a terrible person." Steve shook his head,

"You're not a terrible person." He said quickly. "You had amnesia; it's not your fault." Tony shook his head,

"How could I forget the most important thing in my life, though?" He blurted. "How could I forget the person I love?" The tiniest smile broke on Steve's face and he took Tony's hands in his.

"You can't plan those sorts of things." He shrugged feeling Tony inch closer to him. The soldier didn't deny him and let him fall into his now open arms which constricted around him tightly. "It's just so good to have you back." He whispered to him feeling his arms tighten around him and his fists clench around his shirt as he refused to let go.

"I'll never forget you again." Even if he did, he knew he'd always come back. How could he not come back? Steve was the love of his life!

"If it ever happens again, you know what to do." The soldier chuckled tilting Tony's chin up to meet his lips for the first time in what felt like forever. And it certainly felt good to feel those lips against his again and knowing that they were all his once again. And they would never be anyone else's. Not even if Tony forgot him again, he'd make sure Tony was his forever. "Just come back when you can." He whispered against Tony's lips and pulled him down onto the couch with him letting their kiss last longer.

Above them, an arrow came whizzing by and landed in the wall only two inches above their heads. They both looked up dazed to see Clint standing in his bedroom doorway wearing his hawk pajama pants and a devious smirk on his face.

"What did I tell you Steve? It just takes time. And welcome back, Stark." He chuckled darkly before retreating into the darkness of his room.

"If I ever lose my memory again, I hope he stays permanently erased." He said laughing slightly a bit scared of Clint's mysterious demeanor.

"Tony?" Steve said from below him.

"Yeah?"

"It's been a whole two weeks. Forget what he's up to, shut up, and kiss me." Tony loved the demanding side of Steve and quickly leaned down doing just as he commanded.

"Sir, yes sir."

**Sorry for the lateness of this! I've been really busy lately, a bit under the weather, and I've been a little bit depressed. You guys and fan fiction keep me looking on the brighter side sometimes. I truly love each and every one of you! **

**Anyway, pretty please, REVIEW! And if you so wish, please leave a suggestion! I'd love it so much! **

**Sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed, I've had a hard time collecting my thoughts, but I tried. **

**Happy Reading! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Title: **_Disarm Them_

**Inspiration: **_Well, I'm just in an Avengers mood since the DVD is coming out TOMORROW! _

"I found one of them." Clint's voice said through all of their earpieces. "This one was a bitch to get to. Do you know how many of those creatures I had to kill to get to this one?"

"Stop talking and disarm it, than." Tony said and Clint could hear him growl in frustration as he shot down two more of the strange alien like creatures. "Always New York. It always has to be New York." He heard Steve chuckle over his earpiece.

"Of course it does."

"It sucks."

"Oh, please. Man up, Tony." Natasha said and then swore loudly as they all listened to her earpiece crackle as she began to fight with one of them. "Damn, these guys can pack a punch. What the hell are they?"  
"Hell if we know. Ask Thor." Tony rolled his eyes as he shot down another one of the aliens and tried to reach the second bomb. There were three in the city and they had five minutes. None of them were in any rush though since they knew they'd make it.

"I fear I do not know what they are either." Thor said over the earpiece and they heard thunder crack on the other end. "But they are strong…"

"I thought you've fought bigger." Clint chuckled and shuffled around the bomb trying to find a way to disarm it. They heard Thor scoff on the other end before he began to fight with a few more of the creatures. They even heard their bones crack.

"Take it easy, meatswing." Natasha said putting a gun away and reaching the bomb Clint already found and saw him eyeing it in confusion. "Fuck." She said realizing they had no more than three minutes before New York was blown sky high. "Tony, how do you disarm these?" She said carefully eyeing the circular bomb hoping it didn't detonate early.

"You have to cut one of the wires."

"It would help if you told us which one." Clint growled.

"It's one of the blue ones I believe." Natasha opened one of the doors that revealed a multitude of wires. Most of which were each different shades of blue. Natasha swore and held the wire cutters tightly in his hand.

"Stark, there are about ten blue wires." Clint said wiping his sweaty forehead just as Steve announced he found a bomb in Brooklyn. "Don't cut any wires, Cap." The archer warned hearing Steve grumble in frustration when he saw all of the wires.

"Are they all different shades?" They heard Bruce said suddenly.

"Green giant, nice to hear you back with us." Tony teased realizing Bruce was back to normal and not the Hulk anymore.

"Shut up, Stark." He chuckled. "Okay, focus, we have two minutes. What shades are they?"

"Light blue and dark blue?" Clint offered.

"Teal, light blue, midnight blue, and one is kind of a green shade." Natasha said clearing it up a bit. They heard Bruce typing on the other end just as Tony said he found the third bomb with Thor somewhere in the Bronx.

They were all silent for a moment listening to Bruce type and the sound of his breathing as he searched the SHIELD files for an answer. But his breathing stopped and he was completely silent for a long moment.

"You guys…" Bruce said slowly. "You just have to cut one…it says nothing about which shade to cut, it just says the blue wire." They were silent a moment and then Tony and Clint let out a frustrated groan.

"Fucking SHIELD not giving us the proper instructions." Clint growled. "What if it's the wrong one?" There was a roar on Bruce's line and he swore. They figured more of the creatures were coming for him.

"I don't know…" He said sadly and the roar got louder. There was a moment of silence between them before Bruce said softly, "Good luck…" His line went dead and they knew he was hulking out again and taking care of business. There was a moment of silence and they all stared down at the timers on each of the bombs realizing they only had one minute left.

"What one do we cut?" Steve asked slowly.

"I don't know." Natasha said running a hand through her red hair. "Just pick one."

"How about we all choose one?" Thor offered. "One color."

"I vote the midnight blue one." Tony said fiddling with his clippers. "Thor, go and help Bruce…" He whispered to the God who placed a hand on his shoulder sympathetically and then went through the roof to go help the Hulk.

"Tasha, go help them out." Clint said sadly. She gave him a shove,

"Don't baby me, Clint. If it's the wrong wire we're all going to die anyway, there's no point of me leaving. I'm staying right here with you." Everyone knew they were now holding onto each others hands tightly.

"So we have twenty seconds…which one is it?" Steve asked hovering his clippers over the wires knowing the others were doing the same thing.

"The midnight blue one." Clint said softly and took the clippers from Natasha's hand so he could cut the wire and hold her close. He might as well since it could very well be their last seconds together.

"Okay." Ten seconds left. They all leaned their clippers over the wires.

"Steve…" Tony said before he cut his wire.

"Yes, Tony?" He said about ready to cut the wire. Five seconds.

"I need to tell you something. I like you, a lot. I like you more than friends. And if we make it out of this…I'd like to take you out."

"Out?" He said slowly closing the clippers and taking in what Tony just admitted to him.

"Yes, out…on a date." Three seconds. "I would really like to do that." Two seconds.

"Yes." Steve answered. They all cut the wires and squeezed their eyes shut as they did so. They all held their breath and waited for the explosion. It seemed like hours had passed after they cut their wires when really it had only been about two seconds. They waited still for their death.

It never came.

"Oh my god…" Clint said slowly and let out a breath. Steve heard Natasha and Clint collide and he figured they were kissing.

"You're all there?" Steve asked letting his heart rate slow down.

"Yeah, still here." Natasha said.

"Copy." Clint said.

"Tony?" Steve held his hand to his ear, smiling, and waited for the genius to respond. His heart rate instantly picked up again. "Stark, are you there?" He shouted hearing Natasha gasp. "Tony, answer!" He shouted feeling his hands begin to shake.

"No…" Clint whispered.

"You guys, get down to the Bronx, now." They all heard Bruce say back on the earpiece again. "I mean it. Right now." Without another thought, they all began to run out from where the disarmed bombs now stood. SHIELD would take care of those.

"No, no, no, no." Steve said over and over as he climbed onto his motorcycle – attaching his shield to the back of it – and he sped off down the road towards the Bronx. He was going maybe fifty over the speed limit, but it was okay since no one was on the roads. They were all warned to stay indoors and not move until given an OK.

"What happened!?" Thor boomed and they heard him drop his hammer.

"Thor, please be quiet. Don't worry them." Bruce said trying to quiet the God who was making the other three worry to much.

They all reached the Bronx and found Bruce and Thor standing by a crumbled street with buildings that were on fire. A soft gasp escaped Natasha as the car she and Clint were driving came to a halt and they jumped out not even bothering to cut off the engine.

Steve slowed to a stop and let his bike fall to the floor along with his shield as he ran to catch up with his teammates. They all looked at each other and saw Bruce fall to his knees in his ruined pants as he stared at the burning building's before them. The collapse was part of his exhaustion though, but he was also distressed that his friend was inside the broken building.

"Tony!" Clint shouted holding a hand to his earpiece. "God damn it, Stark, copy!" He shouted running a hand through his hair. "Stark, answer, now!" Steve ran forward and began to dig through the rubble frantically and tore at it with ease. It wasn't a hard task, but his shaking hands made it more difficult than it should be.

They had a date! There was no way in hell he was going to let this one go the way his and Peggy's date went and never happen. And for once, he felt feelings for someone else again and they actually returned them! And now there was a potential chance that it would never happen. He'd never get to know how Tony really felt about him. He'd never get to feel his hands in his, or see his eyes gazing upon him. He'd never get to have him.

"Tony!" Steve shouted realizing Thor was helping him tear away at the rubble as well. He was slower though since he kept stealing worried glances over at Steve. "Tony, please don't be dead!"

"Don't say that!" Bruce shouted standing up and holding his pants up. "He's not dead, now keep digging!" He said walking over and helping them. "He's not dead!" Tony was Bruce's best friend. The only person who didn't treat him like a monster, but like a real person. Someone who actually didn't act as if Bruce would kill him and pummel him to death at any moment.

"Stark, damn you, answer!" Natasha shouted pacing the streets. They all froze when they heard a sound on the other end of their earpieces that didn't come from any of them. It was a small whimper that they all barely caught.

"Tony!" Steve shouted. "Where are you, answer, please!" He looked around the rubble frantically and began to dig anywhere.

"Steve…" Tony whispered as he barely got the soldiers name out. They all turned to see a shift in the rubble far to the left. They all ran over and began to dig frantically and toss the rocks and wood aside.

"Hang in there, Stark. We're coming." Clint said tossing a big rock aside and seeing a glint of gold and red metal. He threw a few more over his shoulder with a little help from Steve and revealed one of Tony's hands that was slightly sparking. Steve reached down and took Tony's hand in his feeling the metal slowly clasp around his hand weakly.

"We gotcha…" Natasha said pushing away a big boulder with Thor and revealing Tony's smashed Iron Man figure beneath them. "Oh my god…" She said as Steve pulled him out from the rubble and set him down on the ground as they all hovered over him.

Steve was the first to move and he fell to his knees and tore away Tony's helmet and stared down at the genius whose eyes were barely even open. He pressed a few releases on his suit and tore away his chest plate and the rest of his armor until he was down to the clothes he wore underneath that were now ripped and tattered. He looked up at the soldier and grabbed his hand weakly and took Bruce's hand in his other free one.

"We need to get him to the hospital." Bruce said feeling Tony's hand slowly slip out of his own. "Immediately." Steve nodded and hoisted the genius up into his arms just as he began to go limp. Natasha and Bruce gathered Tony's suit and carried it to the car before returning to walk with all of them to the car.

"Don't worry, Tony, we'll get you some help." Clint assured him walking up beside Steve with Natasha holding tightly onto his hand not even believing they all almost died. Tony reached out weakly and Clint took his hand giving it a slight squeeze. "Hang in there." Tony looked back up at Steve who was climbing into the car Clint and Natasha drove here. He told Clint to take his motorcycle back to Stark Tower and meet him at the hospital. Bruce drove the car which was kind of surprising since he was practically half naked. Natasha sat next to him and had a hand on his shoulder trying to calm him down. Thor rode in the back seat with Steve keeping Tony's legs on his so the genius was stretched out instead of crammed.

"We will get you to safety shortly, Man of Iron." Thor said when Tony took one of his hands giving him a slight smile. Half of the reason he was taking their hands was out of pain, but mostly out of the fact that he was nearly dead and hoped this wasn't the last time he saw them all. If it was, well, he wanted to make sure they knew how much he really appreciated them deep down despite his hard exterior. If it weren't for his suit, he would have been crushed to death. But his suit was now in the trunk of the car and in need of serious repair.

"Steve…" Tony said reaching up towards Steve. "Steve…"  
"I'm right here, Tony." Steve said taking his hand in his and holding it to his chest. "Don't worry; you'll be fixed up in a few moments." A loud sound of pain escaped the genius and tensed up in Steve's arms.

"Bruce, punch it!" Natasha instructed the doctor to move faster.

"On it." He said speeding up about twenty miles faster.

"We're not far now, Tony." Natasha said reaching back and taking Tony's free hand which he had reaching towards her. It just proved how incredibly close they all were. But none of them even knew what ailed the Iron Man. All they knew was he was nearly crushed to death so they knew something was broken if not his whole body. Thank god for that suit.

"I need to reinforce my suit." He struggled to get the joke out, but it made everyone chuckle slightly as Bruce pulled into the emergency entrance to the hospital. Nurses rushed out as Steve hoisted Tony out of the car with some help from Thor.

"Oh my word!" One of the nurses exclaimed seeing who it was and how beat up he looked. They of course knew what was going on in the city, but they didn't expect this outcome.

"He's in terrible pain. Please, help him." Bruce pleaded to the nurse who just nodded and instructed the nurses to get him into the urgent care and immediately start giving him pain killers and then take him for scans and x-rays.

"Sir, you'll have to stay behind." The nurse said when Steve tried to follow the hospital staff that was now frantic. "You can't go back there with him." Steve looked down at the nurse and nodded understanding. "Why don't you go home and change," She scanned his Captain America uniform, Thor's Asgard clothes, Bruce's ripped pants, and Natasha's ripped battle getup, "And come back to wait." They all nodded and piled back into the car where they finally calmed down and breathed.

OOO

The sound of an EKG and the smells of the hospital woke him up. Hospitals had a distinct smell and always freaked him out a bit. Ever since the cave in Afghanistan, he'd never really liked anyone operating on him unless it was himself. Whenever someone else did it, it never ended well. He always ended up covered in gauze or with something inside him.

His eyes opened and he looked down at himself to see his ribs were wrapped up. It was no wonder some of his ribs broke, he remembered them hurting. He saw his left hand wrapped up in a cast and his right arm wrapped in gauze. His foot was incased in a black medical boot which pissed him off a bit more than the rest of his injuries. He felt his head and realized his forehead had gauze wrapped around it as well. Figures.

He groaned as he tried to sit upright and heard someone gasp in the room. He looked to his left and saw Steve sitting in one of the less than plush hospital chairs provided in each room for visitors. For a moment all they did was stare at each other, and Steve looked a little sadder than he should.

Tony held his casted hand out to the soldier and smiled weakly when Steve instantly took it and rose to his feet so he could drag the chair closer to Tony's hospital bed before he sat again and encased the genius's hand in both of his. He tried not to put to much pressure on it since it was badly broken.

"I thought-"

"Shh, I know." Tony said in a soft and comforting voice. "It's okay." He said feeling Steve's hands just ever so slightly tighten around his hand. "Come here…" He whispered scooting over and making room for Steve to sit on the bed as well. Without a second thought, Steve gladly got up and climbed onto the bed next to Tony and let the genius lean his head down on his shoulder. Steve put his arm around Tony's shoulders gently and felt him completely lean into him and take his hand again in his good one.

"What wire did you cut?" Steve felt his fingers lace with Tony's and he held them tightly since with this hand he could.

"The blue one. Clint said the midnight blue one, so I did. They must have wired that one differently…" He didn't want to admit that he might have – by accident – cut the teal one, but he knew Steve knew that truth.

"Why did you do it?" He asked referring to the mistake. Tony sighed,

"I was distracted…" He admitted a bit ashamed. There was no time to ever be distracted on a mission. And there he went and did it to himself.

"By what?"

"You." Steve blushed when Tony looked up at him. "By asking you out on a date, hearing your voice in my earpiece…everything. I was just distracted." Steve lightly smiled at that. He distracted Tony? The genius looked away, "Every time you're around me…I can't focus on anything else except for you. And when I thought we were all going to die I had to tell you how I felt and see if you would go on one with me if we made it through that. I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to know how you felt about me. I just…hate being distracted by something within my reach. And if I had you…" He trailed off and met Steve's eyes again to see what the soldier was thinking.

"I distract you that much?" He said trying to hold back the happy chuckle that hitched in his voice.

"You have no idea." The genius mumbled shaking his head a bit disappointed in himself. "Even now as I speak it's hard to get out what I want to say."

"And why's that?" There was a hint of arousal in Steve's voice that Tony didn't miss. The genius looked in his eyes and then down at his lips hungrily.

"Because all I can think about is you being so close to me…holding me…and damn…I just…" Steve waited patiently for him to finish. "I just can't stop thinking about how badly I want to kiss you." Steve let go of Tony's hand and cupped his cheek.

"Tony," He said gently. "If you want to kiss me," He leaned down till his lips were just barely touching Tony's, "Just do it." Tony, shocked by Steve's words, sat frozen for a moment before he licked his lips realizing what he had just said. Before the soldier changed his mind, Tony leaned up closing what little space was still between them and stole a kiss before the moment was gone or ruined by some hospital staff or one of their teammates.

Despite his injuries and the slight pain that shocked through his body, he repositioned himself and pressed his body closer to Steve who was responding well to the kiss and wrapped an arm around the genius's waist and letting it slide around to his back. When it was positioned there, he pulled the man closer and felt him gasp against his lips and open them inviting him in to explore.

A soft moan escaped them both and Tony ran his hands through Steve's hair not caring about his injuries right now. He felt Steve pull him onto his lap so he was straddling the soldier and it hurt his injuries a little less to do that. It just stressed the bruises on his legs a bit, but as if he cared at all. Tony's hands rand down Steve's back and back up so he was gripping the collar of Steve's shirt and he pulled him closer wishing the soldier would be a little less gentle with him. But he figured it was either his nature or he was worried he'd hurt him. He figured it was just both. Plus they were in a hospital and this was their first kiss. But judging by the passion in it, they both figured they both had feelings for each other far before the day before. And those feelings only intensified when they thought they would lose each other and Steve thought Tony was dead.

It may have seemed a little inappropriate to do in a place like this at a time like this, but their minds were both racing with thoughts of almost losing each other. It only seemed like the right thing to do at that moment since they didn't want to ever feel that again. And if they did, they wanted this to be the perfect kiss. A kiss that declared their feelings for each other and let each other know how much they meant to each other. It may not have been love just yet, but they knew it would only be a matter of time before they both fell madly in love with each other. And if they were to ever nearly die again any time soon, then they hoped this was the last kiss they remembered together and would be happy.

The kiss continued and their tongues danced together for a moment and their lips glided along against each others hungrily and they both craved more than they were already getting. Tony bit down on Steve's bottom lip gently and heard a groan escape the man before him as his mouth opened back up and Tony claimed dominance this time. He pushed himself closer to Steve and subconsciously grinded his hips loving the way Steve responded to that with a slightly louder moan than his other ones. He loved this side of Steve.

"That's more like it." Tony whispered against the soldier's lips and then crashed his own back into them not wanting to stop yet. He didn't care if anyone walked in right now; all he wanted was Steve and nothing more. He ran his tongue along Steve's bottom lip and bit down being granted access once more. Steve was so easy to please. To bad the soldier was being gentle and Tony didn't get to see him unhinged form his self control. That was a side he craved to see right now. But he understood.

"Jesus, Tony." Steve chuckled through the kiss. "How badly have you wanted me these past few months?"

"Badly." The genius replied tightening his hands on Steve's side. "You have no idea, Steve." The soldier chuckled again but it came out oddly since he was slightly more aroused now from the pressure Tony's hands were putting on his sides. They fell right back into the kiss and they both decided this was the best first kiss either of them had ever had before. And with the way Tony was letting out his playboy side was driving Steve absolutely crazy. It was a side he never liked to see him use on anyone else, but with him, he loved it.

"Steve, loosen up a bit, you won't break me." Tony growled seductively and bit down on the soldiers lip making him gasp again. "Show me some of that super soldier side." A chuckle escaped Steve and he ran his hands down Tony's back and squeezed his ass and pulled him up closer so Tony's legs were nearly wrapped around his waist. He hoisted Tony up and tried to gently slam him down against the mattress so he was underneath him. A small groan of slight pain escaped Tony, but he wouldn't let Steve break the kiss. He just pressed himself closer and smiled. Steve took dominance and let his tongue explore the inside of Tony's mouth more which just made the genius moan louder than before. He ran his hands up the pajama shirt Tony was wearing and pinched his sides slightly.

"Atta' boy, Cap." Tony growled against Steve's lips and both men chuckled relishing in the kiss for just a moment longer.

Before it got more out of hand than it already had gotten, though, Steve pulled away and pressed his forehead against Tony's and tried to catch his breath. Tony was also taking in raspy breaths of air listening to his EKG go wild in the background and smiled at the man before him who was red as a cherry. Obviously he'd never done something like that with someone before.

"Damn, that felt good." Tony whispered with his breath ghosting over Steve's lips.

Once they settled back down resuming their position from earlier when they were just talking, they caught their breath and let their heart rates relax.

"Where is everyone else?" Tony asked lacing his hand with Steve's.

"They've visited, but it's really late, Tony. It's like four in the morning." Steve chuckled looking out the window into the early morning.

"Oh…" He said realizing the darkness. "How long have I been out?"

"About twenty eight hours." The look on Tony's face was priceless.

"I think that's the most sleep I've ever gotten." He joked making Steve laugh. He loved that man's laugh.

"The others visited about six hours ago before they got tired and left when you didn't wake up. They asked me to come along home with them, but…"

"But you wanted to wait till I woke up." Tony finished for him with a smile. Steve nodded and looked down at the man who was contently lying in his arms.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay. I didn't want anything to happen to you."

"Like what?"

"Amnesia, brain damage, paralysis…not waking up." Tony leaned up with furrowed brows when he heard the drop in Steve's voice.

"Steve, I'm not going anywhere. Not now." He said placing his good hand against the soldier's cheek. "You're mine now, and I don't plan on ever losing you. Not even if I blow up a bomb and nearly kill myself. I'm not going to leave you." Steve smiled at the sound of that. The way Tony called him his made him feel so warm inside and he suddenly couldn't stop smiling. "You're so cute." Tony whispered pressing his forehead against Steve's again. The solider blushed again and was at a loss of words.

"So about that date…" Steve said after a moment.

"Hmm?"

"As soon as you're out of here, where will we go?" Tony smirked.

"Wherever you want. To the moon if that'll make you happy. I will personally buy NASA and take you to the moon." Steve laughed loudly at that and decided he'd think about what they'd do. And it wouldn't involve the moon or Tony spending a fortune on him. He loved the simple things. Maybe they'd even go dancing. "But I have a small suggestion for that night." Steve turned a bit pink, but Tony continued. "You, me, my hot tub, and a bottle of the finest champagne I have. How does that sound?" By that point, Steve was crimson figuring he knew how the night would end, but he smiled completely fine with it.

"Sounds lovely."

"I knew you'd think so." And they kissed once more before they both relaxed back into the bed and drifted off back to sleep in each others arms with the hum of the television playing in the background.

**Super fast update, right? Writing the beginning of this was making me so sad! So I hope you all adore it! The kissing scene was super fun for me to write. Normally I'm not so…steamy with my writing. What has gotten into me? And is it bad that this is my longest chapter? I hope not! Ha ha!**

**Oh my goodness, you all have no clue how Avengers crazy I am right now since the release date of the DVD is tomorrow! I have it pre-ordered and I'm making my mother go get it for me while I'm at school. I'm so excited! Plus, I have no school Wednesday so I'm defiantly having an Avengers marathon tomorrow till like, four in the morning! Are you guys as excited for the DVD release as I am? **

**Anyway, fan girl mode off…pretty please _REVIEW_! And if you'd like, please leave a suggestion, it'd help me get the creative juices flowing and it might help with faster updates. **

**Thank you all for the love this has received so far! I love you all so much! Thank you! **

**Happy Reading! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Title: **_Jealousy is a Terrible Villain _

**Suggestion by cXrASSASSIN13 : Someone crushing on Tony and Steve gets jealous or the other way around! **

Benefit balls were usually fun to an extent for each of them. But most of the time – unless they were dancing – the nonstop questions and pointless chatter got boring. A little to boring. Once someone was talking to Thor and the demigod almost fell asleep. That was quite a sight especially when the person who was conversing with him got offended and left. But when they were actually being active or engaged in an interesting conversation, then things livened up a bit for them.

Things were always more interesting when the host of the benefit ball invited in live musicians. Normally it was an orchestra since benefit balls were quiet, but the musicians were breathtaking most of the time. Like the young lady playing violin at the head of the orchestra today. The way her red dress glittered down her body and was practically formed to her body was one of the most beautiful things any of them had ever seen. Especially since she herself was quite beautiful.

But no ones beauty – in their opinion – surpassed their own. Even Thor had put on a tuxedo for the occasion. That was a struggle too since he was almost one hundred percent against taking off his Asgardian clothes. He said the suit made him feel like he was a penguin. So it took some convincing to get the demigod into normal clothes for once. But as for the rest of them, they each wore something that suited them. And naturally they were all the best dressed people there.

When they all first showed up, they grabbed drinks and began to mindlessly chat with some of the guests who none of them knew. But nonetheless they still chatted about random topics sometimes actually genuinely intrigued. Hopefully this time Thor wouldn't fall asleep while talking. Not that it wouldn't liven up the party a bit, but it would certainly anger the host who was the mayor of New York.

Midway through the ball, the talking stopped and the dancing begun. Natasha didn't leave Clint's side the whole night. And when he twirled her around the dance floor her silver dress would cascade behind her in a marvelous display of glitter that looked like stars. Despite a few battle bruises that battered her skin, she was the best dressed out of anyone there. And Clint couldn't take his eyes off of her.

For a few songs, Tony swept Steve away from his conversations and onto the dance floor to dance with him. And Steve loved it. Dancing with Tony was like a dream come true. Not that they hadn't danced together before – they'd danced together multiple times! But whenever they did, Steve could not – would not – stop smiling. And of course Tony would bask in the love radiating from that lone smile and return it.

They danced around the dance floor with grace and spun despite the odd looks from some of the guests. Not many of them had warmed up to the idea of Iron Man dating Captain America, and some of them didn't even know till now. But that was the guest's problem, not theirs. Other people's opinions wouldn't change the way they felt about each other. And they were crazy for each other. Nothing and no one would – or could – change that.

Except maybe the brunette that had been eyeing Tony the entire night with some form of hunger in his eyes that only seemed to grow each time the genius moved or said something. It didn't come as any surprise to Steve when the man pulled Tony away after their third dance and asked if he could speak with him. He was a huge fan. Naturally, the genius complied deciding to be humble. And by the way the man's eyes lit up when Tony agreed was a good sign that he was beyond thrilled. Something told Steve that this man wasn't just a big fan of Tony's work. There was something else going on in that man's head.

But the soldier ignored his hunch and went to go sit down for a while next to Bruce who was just mindlessly sipping a drink and talking to a young lady. It was a good thing that the kind doctor was actually out and being social for once instead of locking himself away in his lab. But even when he was out and being social, science was still a big topic. But by the way the young lady was talking with him, it wouldn't come as a surprise if they girl herself was a scientist. And something told Steve that she was.

His eyes drifted over to where Tony and the man stood by the patio doors. The man was gazing up at Tony who seemed to be blabbing nonstop. That didn't surprise Steve. That man could talk. He was pointing to a few parts on his arms which indicated that he was probably telling the star struck man about the Iron Man suit.

The man would occasionally – at appropriate times – reach out and touch Tony. Such as when they would laugh, the man would shove him back slightly, or he would rest a hand on the genius's shoulder or touch his arm when he spoke. But no matter how appropriate his gestures were, Steve still couldn't help but feel bothered by them. Especially with the way he was gazing up at him. That look meant far more than just being a fan. And Steve knew that. Despite how bothered he was, he never faltered or let it show. He masked it perfectly and tried to focus on the rest of what was going on around him.

For a while, the soldier engaged in conversation with Bruce and the young lady who was indeed a scientist. That he confirmed by the way she spoke with Bruce and how she asked about the serum that turned Steve into the super soldier he is today. And the topics seemed to entice her enough. But no matter how interested she was, there was never a hint of anything other than curiosity and shock in her eyes. As opposed to the man who was ogling Tony with his eyes and basically having eye sex with the genius. And the more Steve thought about that, the more fidgety and bothered he got. Did Tony not notice?

Once the girl was done with her questions for Steve, she turned her full undivided attention back to Bruce and they engaged in the thrilling topic of different forms of radiation. A topic Bruce knew a lot about. And since they were both distracted, Steve turned back to where Tony and the other man were to see them still talking. Except the other man had stepped much closer to Tony and had his hand rested on the genius's shoulder contently. Of course the genius didn't move though, he was used to that.

Steve continued to watch as the men laughed and smiled at each other and the other man would inch closer or touch Tony in some other way than just resting his hand on the mans shoulder. And the more familiar the two of them got, the more infuriated Steve got. Even he couldn't keep up a conversation with one of the guests for that long. Let alone with one who was a bigger fan boy of him than Phil Coulson.

The man said something with a lustful look in his eyes, and Tony just cocked an eyebrow and smiled back at the man. And even though he didn't hear what the man said, Steve still gritted his teeth knowing it wasn't some innocent question or mindless chatter. The look in the man's eyes told him enough.

Before the soldier could focus in on what the two of them were talking about, he felt someone sit down beside him, and he turned to meet the eyes of Natasha curiously watching him with Clint standing up beside them and holding her hand. The soldier cocked an eyebrow at them and scooted away a bit, confused by the look in Natasha's eyes.

"Jealousy is a terrible villain, Steve." She said leaning back a bit in her seat. "And it doesn't look good on anyone. Least of all you." Taken aback by her words, it took him a moment to process that she had practically read his mind since he was masking his feelings well enough. At least he hoped so.

"I know." The soldier replied looking back over at the two of them. Tony was doubled over in laughter and the other man was – gladly – supporting him and holding him up. Which consisted of him holding onto the genius's hand and having a hand on his shoulder. That infuriated the soldier more. "You'd think he would have left by now."

"Perhaps he's having a good conversation." Natasha observed realizing why Steve was so upset. He looked away once Tony stood up and rested one of his hands on the mans shoulder and said something very animated making them both smile.

"Perhaps." The soldier muttered taking a sip of his drink knowing it'd have no effect on him whatsoever. Sometimes he wished it would. "He can do what he wants. I'm not in charge of him." He said slowly.

"But you are dating him. That counts for a lot more than just a little something." Clint said sitting down beside Natasha and putting an arm around her.

"I suppose you're right, but since when does Tony follow anyone else's orders?"

"Last I checked you're the only person he really listens to." Natasha chuckled. "You and Pepper. The man hardly listens to Fury, and hell if he listens to us." That comment got a nice halfhearted laugh out of Steve since he knew all to well that it was true. That man was the hardest person to get to follow any order. No matter how important or how insignificant it was.

"Stark is just a big kid who does what he wants when he wants." Clint chuckled looking over at the genius and the brunette man once more. They certainly looked a bit to comfortable with each other. And the way that Steve looked a little to relaxed and leaned back was a bit dodgy. Obviously it was bothering him beyond belief.

Natasha and Clint were dragged away by a few people who wanted to speak with them. So they said goodbye to Steve and walked over to the bar to join the guests who were already asking questions and striking up conversation. It left Steve alone with his thoughts since while he spoke with Clint and Natasha, Bruce and the young lady he was talking with went out to the dance floor to go dance together.

Alone with his thoughts, he kept glancing over his shoulder at the man and Tony. And he caught a sight he really wished he hadn't. The man was shaking Tony's hand obviously about to leave. But of course it wasn't as innocent as it looked so far. Before Tony walked away, the man pulled him forward and pressed his lips against his for what seemed like a few seconds before he hugged the genius and headed out the door.

Before, Steve had been masking his jealousy perfectly, but now he was just about positive it was showing all over his face. Especially since Tony didn't look fazed or bothered by the kiss he just shared with a random stranger. And that bothered Steve most of all. He was a random stranger, and he kissed him.

Fuming with jealousy and anger, the soldier stood up quickly and hurried out to the patio for fresh air. Also, he wanted to escape the room before Tony found him and came to sit with him and act as if nothing ever happened. He was notorious for acting that way. Sometimes – such as right now – it got hard to handle.

Once outside, he tried not to slam the door behind him, but failed a bit since a few people turned. He walked over to the stairs and sat down running a hand through his blonde hair as he turned up towards the sky where the stars and the moon gleamed above head. He took a few deep breaths and lowered his head down a bit to look out at the driveway where cars were leaving. One in particular held the man that just kissed Tony moments ago.

That thought just made the soldier more and more enraged as he heard the patio doors open and then close gently. He knew who it was, but he didn't move an inch. After all, he was out here first.

"Steve?" Tony asked gently.

"What, Tony?" The soldier spat not really masking his hurt feelings as well as before. And Tony knew that. Especially by the way he was speaking.

"What are you doing out here?" He walked over and sat down next to him on the step. Steve just shifted a bit and sighed,

"I needed some fresh air and alone time." He hissed the end part trying to make it clear that he was mad at him. That he didn't want to be around him at the moment.

"Why?"

"I have a bit of a headache." He shrugged and kept his eyes fixated on the cars that were driving off. The benefit ball was nearly over, but there were still plenty of people inside dancing, drinking, and having a good time. "I think I might just go home."

"I'm sure I could get you some pain killers?" Tony asked a bit confused at the soldier's composure and claims to a headache.

"No thanks, I'll just go." Steve stood up quickly and adjusted his bow tie.

"Feel better." Tony leaned up to kiss him goodbye, but Steve turned his head to the side so Tony's lips just grazed his cheek. Confused, he looked at the soldier with furrowed brows. "What's wrong?" He asked eyeing Steve curiously.

"That man…he kissed you…" Steve all but whispered letting his jealousy show fully. "And here you stand acting as if it was no big deal."

"It wasn't a big deal." Steve scoffed,

"To you maybe not, but to me, yes." Tony sighed,

"You're over thinking this. It meant nothing."

"Maybe not to you!" Steve nearly shouted. "You can do whatever you want and brush it off as no big deal, but if I were to do something wrong then you'd hit the roof. You never listen to anything anyone else has to say. But like you said, following's not really your style." The soldier's words took Tony aback and he just stood speechless for a moment. When he didn't say anything, Steve began to walk towards the garage where their car was waiting for them. "Get a ride from one of the others." He said walking out of sight.

OOO

Instead of going right home, Steve drove down to midtown Manhattan feeling the need to just get some fresh air. Plus, he was in the mood for a good Starbucks coffee and he didn't know how to work Tony's high-tech coffee machine just yet. So it just seemed like the perfect time to escape the hectic tower and just get lost in the crowded streets of Time Square right on Broadway. Normally, he would have chosen Brooklyn over any other part of New York, but today was just a bit of an off day. Not to mention that he was currently pissed at the man he loved.

He parked the car in a parking structure and began to head down Broadway wearing the fanciest tuxedo he owned and fiddling with his wallet. And he ignored all the raised eyebrows he received from all the midtown people and the hipsters that filled the square. It was a little abnormal to see someone walking down the streets in Time Square wearing a fancy designer tuxedo unless they had just come from a Broadway show. But most people ignored it. This was New York after all.

The soldier went into Starbucks and bought a Caramel Macchiato before he headed back into the streets of Broadway.

He sat down at one of the tables in the center of the street and sipped his coffee while he fiddled with his cell phone wondering how anyone in their right mind knew how to control one of those things. Droids weren't exactly the easiest phones to use. And currently his kept ringing with texts and calls from Tony and the others wondering where the hell he was. But of course he ignored them and just assumed that he could hopefully find his way home.

A text from Tony flashed across the screen and he slammed the phone down – nearly breaking it – and huffed angrily. How could he do that? Right in front of him of all things? Did a relationship mean nothing to him? Of course he couldn't do anything he wanted, but Tony could because he was _him_. That was always his excuse. He could do what he wanted just because he was Tony Stark. And that was ridiculous.

Angrily, he finished off the last of his coffee and threw the empty cup out in the trash bin that was right beside him. For a while, he just sat in the chair with his teeth clenched and contemplated when he should head back to the tower. And according to his phone – that was still ringing off the hook – it was about two in the morning. It didn't surprise him that the streets of Manhattan were still overly crowded.

Another call came in on his phone from Tony and Steve glared at his caller ID for a moment before he decided he should at least answer and let them know he wasn't kidnapped or something and have them tear up Midtown again.

"Stop calling me." He growled into the receiver.

"Where the hell are you? It's two in the morning!" Tony said with worry flooding his voice.

"Like you care? Why don't you give Romeo a call and ask him to spend the night with you at the tower tonight?" The soldier hissed into the receiver not realizing how harsh that was until he said it. There was an uncomfortable silence and Steve just hung up not wanting to cause anymore tension than they already had formed.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair before he stuffed his phone and wallet into his pocket and stood up to go find the car. Maybe he'd go to the tower in a few hours and just sleep on the couch. It's not like he'd never stayed out late before. Plus with coffee in his system he was sure to be up another couple hours or so.

"Rogers, stop!" A voice shouted making him jump after he headed down the street for about ten minutes already. He turned around to see Tony land right in front of him wearing his Iron Man suit. He took of the helmet and set it down on one of the tables beside him before he held out his arms in confusion and furrowed his brows at the soldier who still looked hurt and a bit ticked.

"Go home, Tony." The soldier said overly irritated.

"Not without you." He said taking a few steps forward. "Look, I'm sorry, I really am. I didn't mean for that to happen at all, believe me. Why would I want him anyway when I have you?" He said getting closer to the soldier. "Please, I'm really sorry, and I mean it so don't question it. I'm yours and no one else's." They stared at each other a long moment and Steve narrowed his eyes at the genius.

"You're a piece of work, Stark." He said shaking his head.

"I know I am, but please, I-" He cut himself off and averted his eyes. "I can't stand to see you mad with me over something I did. I'm an asshole, I get it, and I'm sorry. But I hate to see you upset and I want you to just be happy forever…with me." There was another long awkward silence and Steve realized out of the corner of his eyes that people had stopped to watch. How could they not when Iron Man was standing in the middle of Time Square talking to Captain America who was clad in a tuxedo at two in the morning.

Steve walked the few more steps between them and put his arms around Tony quickly despite the mass of the suit that restricted him from actually holding the man close.

"Well then how about we let the whole world know that you're mine and no one else's?" He whispered lowly in Tony's ear before he dipped the genius down and stole a very passionate kiss right there in the middle of Time Square. No sooner did their lips touch did they hear about twenty cameras and phone cameras snap a shot.

"If that's not on the cover of every paper and magazine in the city tomorrow, I will be thoroughly shocked." Tony said once the soldier broke the kiss. "Let's go home." He said grabbing his helmet and holding out one of his metal clad hands to Steve. The soldier took it and pulled him in for one more kiss.

"You can guarantee those headlines." He said as they began to walk away to where Steve parked the car. "And I promise I won't get jealous again…Tasha was right, it's not a good look on me."

"You won't have a reason to." Tony beamed up at the man beside him.

"That's what I like to hear." They kissed once more hearing the cameras go off again before they headed into the parking garage to find the car.

"We'll be headlines for months, baby."

"Good." Steve said stealing a seductive glance at Tony. He smirked,

"I know that look."

"You better." A blush took over Steve's face and he averted his eyes to where the car was parked.

"How about we go home and I prove that you're all mine?"

"And I'll make you forget everyone else you've ever been with."

"Baby, you're already doing it." They pulled out of the garage and headed back towards Stark Tower. Hopefully everyone was already asleep.

**So sorry for the lateness of this update, I've been super duper busy, had writers block for a bit, but here it is! Did this satisfy your request cXrASSASSIN13? I tried my best and I loved writing this. Thank you very much for the request! **

**Anyway, as always, please REVIEW and leave a request if you so please! I would absolutely adore it! **

**I love each and every one of you! You make me happier each day when I see a new view, follow, favorite, or review. I can't even begin to explain how unconditionally happy you all make me. I love you all so very much! Thank you!**

**Happy Reading! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Title: Midnight Proposal**

**Suggestion by Izzy Montague: Can you do a proposal chapter? That would be lovely. **

They had been together for nearly two years now. Neither of them even _dreamed_ about being together that long, but against all odds they managed to stay together. Through the good and the bad times their love still managed to prevail and here they were, two years later, still happily together.

It shocked everyone actually. No one believed that they could put up with each other that long. What with Tony's attitude and personality and with Steve's out of date lifestyle. It was a bit of a shocker that they were still together and perfectly happy. Even when they did fight, it didn't last long. The longest they'd gone without talking to each other was a few days at most. And even then they could barely take it. Because God forbid they should take some time away from each other.

Of course there were still people who disapproved of their relationship, homophobes weren't rare. But if they had a problem with it, then it was their problem. Who ever said it was wrong? It wasn't. Love was love, and they had that. Nothing and no one would change that anytime soon or anytime ever for that matter.

Tonight, one of the most crowded and exciting nights in New York was one they certainly would never forget. New Years Eve was famous for love. It always had been. Rumor had it that the person you kissed at midnight would be the love of your life. Of course they tested that theory last year and it seemed to be coming true. So tonight at the stroke of midnight while everyone was gathered and partying loud in Times Square, there would be an event no one would ever forget. Especially when it involved two of the most famous superhero's of all time.

Iron Man would propose to Captain America.

It wasn't even ten o'clock and the streets were already crowded as all hell down in Times Square. People could barely walk let alone breathe with the size of the crowed that seemed to still grow. Of course New Years Eve was also known for a night of drinking, so about half of the crowed was completely wasted and just going nuts. But, it was New Years Eve, it was acceptable tonight.

Music blared through the streets and lights lit up everything in the city. All of the lights could probably be seen from outer space they were so bright. The only stores open were restaurants and coffee shops. Of course everyone would be in need of their coffee tonight since they were certain to be up way past midnight. They may not be in Times Square, but it was pretty much guaranteed that there would be about a million after parties tonight.

It was about eleven o'clock when Tony, Steve, Bruce, Clint, Natasha and even Thor all showed up in Times Square in style of course. They drove up in a limo and were practically mobbed by a crowed of fans and just from people in general since it was so damn crowded. They climbed the steps to a VIP booth right by the stage at the heart of Times Square and over looked everyone in the city who were partying to the music waiting for midnight to come.

Live music shook their booth as they were served drinks and hors d'oeuvres and their dancing and partying began as they over looked all of New York Cities citizens partying below.

"I love New Years Eve." Clint said sitting on the barred ledge of their booth. "And I can get shamelessly drunk and not give a shit."

"You're a pig." Natasha said pulling him back from the ledge and wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Yet you still love me, I don't understand it." He said sarcastically turning around to go and dance with her. There were others in their booth with them – worthy guests – who were already trying to snag a dance with all them. Of course, most of the time they were just dancing with each other and drinking merrily. They were a little to distracted to be worried with the guests that none of them really knew all to well. Most were SHIELD agents, but there were a few who actually _paid _to be in the booth with them. Now that was certainly hero worship.

"Dance with me, Cap." Tony said grabbing Steve's hand and pulling him up from the table he was sitting at with Thor and Bruce. Steve complied and let Tony pull him out to the dance floor for some modern dancing. Of course they both loved slow dancing and swing dancing, but Tony was determined to get the soldier to love modern dancing. Because he certainly did. You got a little closer and more intimate than the other forms of dancing they did. And, of course, he loved that.

He pressed himself up close to Steve and they began to move to the beat of _Strip_. Chris Brown was performing obviously and he sounded a bit more off than the recorded versions. Auto tune did miracles apparently. But the song still was danceable and Tony was quite content where he was.

Their booth was open so the crisp air was nipping at their skin despite their jackets and scarves. Steve wore a black pea coat with a blue scarf and matching blue gloves. Tony wore an unbuttoned black jacket and red scarf. Underneath he wore a half unbuttoned red shirt and Steve wondered how in hell he wasn't shivering by now. Then again with the way he was grinding up against him he kind of knew why. And he kind of loved it.

The genius wrapped his hands around Steve's scarf and pulled him down to his level so he could kiss him. A muffled laugh escaped Steve and he delved in the kiss for a moment before breaking it.

"You're very loveable tonight, aren't you?" He chuckled sliding his hands around Tony's back and pulling him up closer to him.

"What can I say, the song gets me going. To bad it's about a girl." A louder laugh escaped Steve and he turned a bright shade of pink. "I wouldn't mind seeing you strip right now." He winked.

"In front of everyone? I'd rather it be a private show." Tony's eyebrows shot upward. _Damn, I can't wait till I marry this man._ He thought feeling a blush creep onto his cheeks. Only Steve was capable of making the genius blush, and ever since he was positive he was going to marry him it seemed to happen more often than before.

"Kinky." He chuckled letting his hips grind into Steve's more. The soldier smiled and tried to focus on his dancing. Modern dancing still wasn't exactly his strength, but he certainly was catching on.

The black leather case in Tony's pocket pressed up against his thigh each time he moved and made his nerves spike more and more. Normally he wasn't one for nerves, but when it came to Steve, he could become a nervous wreck. And with something this big – especially since he was doing it in front of all of New York City and possibly all of the United States – it was a bit nerve wracking. But he masked his nerves perfectly with a stellar million watt smile.

"Thirty minutes to go!" Clint said after he downed a second glass of champagne and thrust a third in the air. Everyone in the booth cheered and thrust their drinks up as well before they continued to party for about twenty five more minutes. Half of them were already shamelessly drunk, and Clint was soon to follow if he didn't get under control before the New Year came.

Pitbull took the stage with Chris Brown and they began to sing the hit song _International Love_ just as it was announced that the time was coming. New York was probably the place to be on New Years Eve. At least in the East Coast it was.

"You're in a really good mood tonight…should I be worried?" Bruce asked when Tony sat down beside him watching Steve dance with Natasha – who was tipsy by now.

"Nope, not at all." The genius chuckled letting his hand wrap around the black leather case in his pocket. "Tonight will be a night to remember, that's for sure."

"Do you have a new year's resolution or something?" Bruce asked curiously.

"You could say that…"

"You're still worrying me, but hey, I'll leave you to your business." The doctor chuckled and stood up.

"You'll know soon enough why I'm acting this way." Tony shrugged watching Bruce walk away with a smirk on his face. All he knew was it probably involved Steve. And he knew it certainly wasn't going to be some big kiss like last year. That one made the news stands for months. And it certainly earned them plenty of hate from former fans and the press, but they got through that. Who cared what the public thought?

"Twenty minutes until the new year comes!" Thor boomed thrusting his fist into the air. Tony checked his watch and smirked. He adjusted his jacket and headed towards the booths stairs so he could go get ready.

"Where are you going?" Steve asked walking up behind him.

"Bathroom." He lied giving the soldier's hand a squeeze. "I'll be back shortly."

"You better be. I'll be waiting for my midnight kiss." _You'll get better than that._ The genius thought and headed down the stairs to go to the limo where his Mark V was waiting for him. Of course it was older and he was all about the latest and greatest, but in order to easily cart it here, this was the best way to do it unless he wanted to go all the way back to the tower to suit up. That would take longer than necessary considering the streets were practically shut down.

He pulled the briefcase out and headed towards the nearest Starbucks to suit up. Because, honestly, there were no customers in there anymore and he was sure the workers there had seen worse. In any case they would be honored Iron Man paid them a visit. Last time he checked, that didn't happen every day. Unless it was Shwarma, then it happened quite often.

He walked into the bathroom after giving a quick wave to the bored looking workers. They obviously wanted to be partying instead of watching everyone else have fun and watch the ball drop from the television. But as he put on his suit and made sure he had the ring out of his suit pocket, it was the last of his concerns.

Quickly, he headed back out of the bathroom hearing the overworked looking female worker gasp when he walked by as the mask slammed shut over his face. He nodded at her and she just waved back obviously a bit star struck.

"How do the skies look, Jarvis?" He asked walking out of the Starbucks and hearing a few gasps from the partiers.

"Very good, sir. I believe flight would be safe for you. Although you wouldn't care if they were the latter." The genius chuckled and flew up towards the sky.

"You'd be right, J." He said making sure the ring was safe as he flew up to the ball that was sitting at the top with five minutes to go.

"Have you decided what you're going to say?" The AI asked.

"Of course I have, but I'll improvise as well."

"That doesn't always work to your advantage, Sir."

"Do I sense sass?" Tony asked.

"You programmed me sir. I believe you know that answer." The genius scoffed wondering when the AI got so cocky with him.

Tony landed right on the ledge and looked down at everyone below him now staring up at the ball as it sat frozen in place. "Three minutes sir."

"Yes, I know. Thank you for the play by play on the time." Tony said feeling his nerves kicking in with gusto. "Damn…" He said letting his hands wrap around the black leather case. "Better get up there." He flew back up into the air and situated himself atop the glowing orb that would soon begin to drop down to mark the new year of 2013.

Down below in the rented out booth sat the others waiting for the stroke of midnight. The champagne had been poured and they all stared up at the tower where the ball was still frozen. And, of course, no one knew Tony was up there. The cameras weren't even focused on it close enough to let the audiences at home see or the partiers see on the big screen. Everyone was stupid as to what was about to happen.

"It's lowering!" Clint said informing everyone in the booth.

"Yes and where is Tony? Does it really take twenty minutes to pee?" Steve asked looking around him. Tony was no where in sight – how could he be?

"Um, Cap…" Bruce said tapping the soldier on the arm. "Look." He pointed upward at the ball that was now halfway down the pole and looked shocked. Everyone in the audience did, and some were cheering even.

"Oh my god…" Everyone in the booth said in unison when they feasted their eyes upon Tony who was proudly standing on the ball – probably holding on tight – wearing the Iron Man suit. No one saw his face – it was behind the mask – but they knew he was grinning like a fool.

"What the hell is he doing?" Natasha asked fighting the urge to laugh.

"I have no idea." Bruce said wondering why his best friend didn't let him in on his little plan. As far as he knew, this was just another way for him to be in the spotlight.

"He's going to die one day, I swear it." Clint said laughing now. "He's such a shit."

"I agree." Thor chuckled putting an arm around Steve. "Brother Steve, did you know of this?"

"No." Steve said watching as everyone began to count back from ten.

"What the hell?" Natasha said focusing on the screen in the center of Times Square. "What is Stark doing now?" The screen went fuzzy for a moment before it went black. Five seconds and the audience was still counting back to zero.

Everyone gazed up at the orb where Tony was still standing tall with his mask now lifted. The screen turned back on and was centered right on him with only two seconds to go.

"This is going to be good." Bruce chuckled tossing back his champagne as the ball lit up the 2013 sign below Tony and fireworks shot out. Confetti shot out of the cannons and just when everyone else thought it was over and they could all go home, a few more fireworks shot off,

"Steve." Tony said his voice sounded through the whole square. "I know you're probably having a heart attack, so let me make this quick." Steve nodded feeling his heart race a mile a minute since this was now about him. "I love you, you love me, fuck what everyone else thinks, right? We've been saying that for two years and hell, it isn't changing for me. And as far as I know, it isn't changing for you either." The screen under Tony was now showing Steve's face as he gazed up at Tony on the orb. "I don't care what anyone else thinks, and I know you don't either. So that's why I need to ask you something before the moment is gone or I fall." The crowed laughed a bit and watched as Tony got down on his knee and pulled out the black velvet case. This time, the crowed cheered loudly as he opened the case and revealed the bright glimmering ring. Steve covered his mouth with one hand and stared wide eyed up at Tony who had now gotten up and began to descend from the orb.

The cameras stayed focused on him as he slowly descended into the booth where his party and teammates stood in shock. The crowed continued to cheer as he landed in front of Steve and got back down on his knee. He held the ring up towards the soldier and flashed him a genuinely happy smile.

"Will you, Steve Rogers, make me the happiest man alive and do me the honor of becoming my husband?" Another cheer erupted from the crowed and Steve lowered his hand from his mouth to reveal a smile just as bright as Tony's. Slowly, he began to nod before it picked up – probably a little to excited than necessary, but he didn't care.

"Yes." He said. "Yes, I will marry you." Tony grinned and flung himself up at Steve who caught him in his arms and in a very passionate kiss that was displayed on the large screen in the center of Times Square and probably on every television in the United States right now. If last years kiss was the headline for months, who knew how long this would last.

The genius broke the kiss and slid the ring onto Steve's finger. It was silver with a large diamond encased within the silver band so it had a masculine look to it. He laced his fingers with Steve's hand and thrust it into the air as the crowed erupted once more. Steve – who was bright red – leaned over and lowered his lips back down onto Tony's once more to steal another passionate kiss.

"You're so flashy." He whispered against Tony's lips.

"You love it."

"I do. And I love you." Steve said knowing the audience was craving to know what they were saying.

"Better than a midnight kiss?" Steve chuckled and kissed him once more.

"Obviously." They both laughed and held each other close. "I don't think anyone here disapproves." He said listening to the crowed cheer.

"Good, but I wouldn't care if they did."

"I would certainly hope not." The kissed once more and the screens shut off leaving them to their romance that would certainly only grow when they reached the tower that night.

**Sorry for the lateness! How was that? I literally wrote like, three other proposal versions, but I already did a sweet and cutesy proposal in my story Closer, so I decided to let this one be a little flamboyant and flashy – like Tony! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it once the struggle subsided. **

**Pretty please REVIEW and let me know what you think! Also, if you would like, please leave a request. I would love to write some! **

**I love you all so very much. You all have made me so much happier than I have been lately. For a few months, I've been a little down, but lately – ever since I've started writing fan fiction – I've been feeling happier and happier. I love knowing that you all adore and follow my stories no matter how bad I think they are. You all make me so very happy and I love you all more than you can even imagine. Thank you all so much! **

**Happy Reading! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Title: Let Me Teach You **

**Inspiration: No inspiration for this one really…it just came to me!**

"What are you doing up?" Steve paused on the stairs realizing Tony heard him coming in. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"I can't sleep." Tony spun around in his lab chair and eyed the soldier curiously wondering briefly if he had more of his infamous nightmares. Judging by the look on his face though, it wasn't that.

"Why not?" Steve shrugged and walked over to the plush chair right next to the work bench Tony was working at. He sat down and eyed what Tony was working on. It was some weapon for his suit, but naturally Steve didn't know what it was. It was incomplete too, so it was practically just a frame.

"I don't know. I'm just not tired I suppose."

"I can sympathize with that." Steve scoffed knowing that Tony never really slept. If he ever did he only got a maximum of usually four hours. And for him, that was a lot. "So why did you come down here and not just stay upstairs and watch TV? Isn't there some Charlie Chaplin marathon going on on HBO?"

"Television never really does the trick for me. If anything it would keep me up." Tony nodded.

"And me working won't? The way your mind works baffles me sometimes, Cap." Once again, Steve shrugged.

"It just seemed better to be with you." Tony looked up from his work and cocked his head to one side. "Well, I mean, being alone when you can't sleep kind of stinks." By that point, Steve was red for some unknown reason to Tony. Instead of questioning it, though, the genius just went back to his work.

"Makes sense." He replied. "How long have you been awake for?"

"I never fell asleep."

"Got something on your mind, Rogers?" Once again, he looked up and saw Steve looking downward and he was still a little red. It looked as if he were contemplating something big and a bit bothersome.

"Nothing important." He shrugged rubbing his neck. Normally he did that when he was frustrated or confused. Sometimes he did it when he was embarrassed, but right now it looked like a combination of all the three.

"Okay, you know what? It seems like it's about high time I had a break. Would you like a drink? I'd love one, so I'm going to get you one too whether you want it or not." Steve furrowed his brows as Tony walked over to a cupboard and pulled out a bottle of scotch and two glasses.

"It won't have any effects on me." Steve said looking over his shoulder as Tony prepared the drinks.

"Nor will it have one on me." Tony replied walking over with both in his hands. "I'm not a lightweight, so who cares?" He took a sip of his scotch and handed one of the glasses to Steve as he sat down in the lab chair. "So are you going to tell me what's on your mind?"

"I told you, it's nothing important." Tony scoffed and set down his drink.

"Nothing important, eh? Then why are you down here with me, and why do you have that look on your face?" Steve blushed and looked downward. "Okay, what's on your mind?" The genius sighed and folded his arms over his chest eyeing down the soldier who looked suddenly very uncomfortable. "And don't say nothing because there's obviously something going on up there." He took another sip of scotch and then resumed his crossed arm position.

"I guess just a lot of confusing thoughts."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Not really." The soldier laughed nervously and took a sip of the scotch he was handed.

"To bad, talk." Tony said leaning back against the counter. "Tell me about your life or something. Whatever's bugging you? Anything." Steve sighed and leaned his head back against the plush headrest of the chair.

"Well, my life isn't to thrilling of a story now is it? Since most of my life is in the past." Tony shrugged,

"It could be interesting. I mean, you're the only one of us who was around in the 40's. Tell me about that."

"There's not really much to talk about. I mean, before the transformation I had a pretty boring life. Aside from being bullied everyday and beat up in every ally in Brooklyn, there isn't much more to report." A scoff escaped Tony as he finished off the last of his drink.

"Of common, there has to be something interesting about you before the army and the transformation that you're holding out on me. I got it! Did little Mr. Steve Rogers have any lady loves?" He cocked an eyebrow at the soldier and smirked.

"Well, I haven't really loved many people in my lifetime."

"Oh, now this is interesting. Who were they?" Steve turned beat red.

"Well, I'm sure you can figure who the first was. Peggy Carter." Tony nodded knowing all about that story. Of course he pitied his teammate, but what could the soldier do?

"Who were the others?"

"There's only one more…" Intrigued, Tony leaned forward a bit and smirked.

"Do tell." Steve averted his eyes from Tony's and looked at the floor as his face turned redder and redder.

"Well…the other is you actually." He practically whispered. A bit shocked by the soldier's words, he straightened up slightly, but masked his shock perfectly.

"I see." He said nodding.

"Yeah…I can understand if you're disgusted now." He said looking towards the door. Tony cleared his throat and rested his leg on his knee.

"Well, let's just say I wasn't. Then what?" He said completely calm. Steve met his eyes again with his own wide ones. Was he being serious?

"Then…I don't know." He muttered.

"Oh please, you don't know? Common, there's got to be _something_ you'd want to do." He said leaning back. Steve gulped and looked everywhere but him.

"You can probably guess well enough." He whispered taking another nervous sip of his scotch desperately wishing it could have some effect on him. Tony chuckled,

"I'm sure I can guess what you'd want to do. But let's just say I shared your affection. What do you think I'd want to do?"

"I'm sure I can guess what you'd want to do as well." Steve tried to laugh but it just came out as a nervous squeak.

"Am I that predictable?"

"When it comes to romance, yes." The genius cocked his head to the side.

"Well, that's where you're wrong since what you're thinking isn't always the way I decide to go." Steve smirked,

"I'm sure you're just full of surprises." This time, Tony rolled his chair closer to Steve's and uncrossed his legs. He looked down at the shocked man before him and kept the seductive smirk on his face.

"I'd say I am." He slid off the chair and lowered himself onto Steve's lap so he was straddling the soldier who was still red and his hands were slightly shaking. "Does this make you nervous?" He asked placing a hand over one of Steve's shaking ones.

"Not at all." Steve replied sarcastically. "Don't play with me." He said looking away slightly.

"Who said I was playing?" He tilted Steve's head back up towards his with his index finger so their eyes could meet. "There's no need to be nervous." Slight gasps escaped Steve as he felt Tony's hands slide around his waist, and pull him up from his slouched position so their chests were touching. "So why don't you show me what you want to do?" His voice was filled with lust as he gazed down at the nervous soldier he was sitting on. Judging by the nervous look on Steve's face, Tony realized he had no clue what to do. He brought one hand up from around his waist and cupped Steve's cheek with it.

"The most I've done is kiss someone – a peck." He admitted shyly. "I-I don't know what to do." A smile broke on Tony's lips and he leaned his head down to press his forehead against Steve's. Their lips were only centimeters apart by that point.

"Let me teach you." He whispered seductively before he gently pressed his lips to Steve's. He felt Steve's shaking hands slowly glide down his back and rest on the small of it pulling him closer to him. Now that was a good response. Better than he was expecting really.

Excited now, he bit down on Steve's lower lip satisfied when he heard the gentle gasp escape him and his mouth opened allowing Tony access. He let his tongue slip into the soldier's mouth and explore a bit. It thrilled him when he felt their tongues make contact and dance together for a bit before he stopped and leaned down to Steve's neck and began to nibble at the sensitive flesh there.

Steve's hands began to tremble a bit faster and Tony smiled pulling back and was glad when he saw the red mark he had successfully left on the soldier's neck.

"Still nervous?" He reached behind his back and gently took Steve's hands in his and laced their fingers together. He leaned back down and pressed his lips gently against Steve's. "There's nothing to be nervous about. It's just me. You can't do anything wrong." He whispered letting go of his hands and letting his rest on his chest. "Trust me." Steve nodded and let his hands fall down to Tony's hips and relaxed a bit when Tony picked up the kiss again.

Subconsciously, a slight moan escaped the soldier and he tightened his grip on Tony's hips only to pull him closer. A smirk crossed the genius's lips and he pulled away a bit. He cocked one of his eyebrows,

"You okay there?" He asked hearing Steve let out a slight laugh before he pressed his lips back down to his passionately. Steve's hands traveled upward and tangled themselves in Tony's black locks. He played with the longer hairs at the nape of his neck and heard a very satisfied moan escape the genius.

He ran his tongue on Tony's bottom lip and let his tongue slip into the genius's mouth this time claiming dominance. Of course, he was a fast learner. The genius grabbed the collar of Steve's pajama shirt and pulled him closer down to him.

Slowly, he undid the buttons on the front of the soldier's top and let his calloused fingers ghost over his muscular skin underneath the silk fabric of the shirt. He heard Steve moan in delight at the sensation. Chills were going down his spine as Tony gently pushed the shirt down his arms. Steve pulled his arms away and let the shirt slide off of him and fall down onto the seat of the chair.

"You have the body of a god." Tony said eyeing Steve up and down practically drooling over the soldier's abs he'd been dreaming of. He lowered his lips down to his chest and placed a kiss right over his heart letting his hand pull a lever on the chair reclining it. Steve leaned his head back as Tony found his nipples and ran his tongue over the right one. He arched his back at the feeling and let out another much louder moan at the sensation it gave him down his spine. A smile grew on the genius's lips as he went for the other one and felt Steve's hands get tangled in his hair again.

"Jesus, T-Tony…" He said with shaking hands once again. The genius's tongue slowly circled around Steve's nipple and he was delighted to hear an, "Oh my god." Escape Steve. Ever so gently he bit down on the now erect flesh feeling him tug at his hair. "T-Tony!" He cried in bliss.

"Yes?" Tony said cockily as he lifted his head and looked down at Steve who was breathing hard and was bright pink in the face. "Something got you worked up a bit?" Steve rolled his eyes and Tony leaned down ghosting kisses and running his tongue up from his neck up to his lips. They met in a rough kiss and their tongues entwined battling to claim dominance.

Steve let his hands slide under the genius and gave his ass a slight squeeze before he hoisted him up and stood with Tony's legs around his waist. Tony chuckled as Steve a little less than gently set him down on his work bench sending a few things clattering down to the floor including the weapon Tony was working on earlier.

Not caring, Tony wrapped his legs around Steve and pulled him closer as the soldier gripped both of his thighs roughly and enjoyed the growl that escaped Tony at the sensation.

"Rough side, eh?" He commented sliding his hands under the elastic of Steve's pajama pants and boxers and cupped his ass giving it a tight squeeze letting his nails press into the skin but not break it. "Two can play at that game."

"Maybe I like it that way." He said running his hands up the genius's thighs and pinching his sides a bit. "You know, this is probably the best first kiss I've ever had." He commented as Tony nibbled at the soft flesh behind his ear.

"And for someone who hasn't done anything like this you certainly pick up fast."

"That's because I have a great teacher." Tony chuckled,

"Well when I have someone as hot as you to teach it doesn't make it hard." He leaned up and pressed his lips back to Steve's. "And by the way, Cap." He pulled his hands out from Steve's pants and ran them up his bare back. "I love you too." At those words, Steve's face lit up.

"You honestly have no idea how long I've wanted to hear you say those words." He said pulling Tony directly up to him.

"Would you like me to prove it?" He growled lustfully in the soldier's ear. "Now that I'm yours obviously, I want to make you mine. _All _of mine." Steve let out a sigh of longing and felt Tony's hand glide around to his stomach and rest just above the elastic of his pants. "Because I don't know about you, but I'm incredibly turned on right now and, well, what better way to express my love for the man I love?" his fingers slid under the elastic and he gripped the front of Steve's pants pulling him closer.

"Well I'll say that the feeling is mutual." He whispered realizing he had pressed their foreheads together and his breathing was getting harder.

"Good, because you have no idea how long I've wanted this." He said in a low raspy voice letting his hand go down further past the elastic. "Now, where were we?"

**I am SO sorry this took so long to update! I have had writers block for a bit (Kind of funny that this is what I came up with once I got over it) and last week was my Homecoming week and of course Homecoming weekend I got sick and I've missed the past two days of school. Therefore, I decided to spend that time writing this and give you guys an update. I'm so sorry!**

**As always, REVIEW and please leave a request if you so please! I'd love to write them and it might help with faster updates since it'll get me thinking! **

**I love you all so much, thank you for all the love these one shots have gotten so far! It makes me so very happy! I realize that this one is a little steamier than normal, but whatever, I certainly enjoyed writing it! And of course I hope you all enjoy reading it! **

**Happy Reading! **


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